Video: Robby’s Recap – No. 16 Mississippi State Falls in a Thriller to No. 2 Alabama, 31-24

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI/MSU Athletics) – In a last-minute heart-breaker in front of a sold-out crowd at Davis Wade Stadium, No. 16 Mississippi State (7-3, 3-3 SEC) fell 31-24 to No. 2 Alabama (10-0, 7-0) in Starkville on Saturday night.

The Bulldogs and Tide battled back and forth, trading punts, touchdowns and field goals through most of the evening. With the game tied at 24 in the final minute, UA scored the go-ahead touchdown that ultimately sealed the victory. MSU had two Hail Mary attempts – the first resulting in pass interference on the Crimson Tide. The second attempt, coming with no time left on the clock, fell incomplete.

Head coach Dan Mullen said his team was able to control the tempo of the game by winning the line of scrimmage, they just weren’t able to score one more time. State ran the ball better against Alabama than anyone had all year, gaining 172 yards against a team that was only allowing 76 yards per game coming in.

Junior running back Aeris Williams was MSU’s leading rusher with 97 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries, while junior quarterback Nick Fitzgerald totaled 66 yards and one touchdown on 21 carries. Fitzgerald also completed 13-of-24 passes for 158 yards as 10 different players had a reception in the contest.

MSU was paced defensively by junior safety Mark McLaurin who had 11 tackles, including 1.5 sacks, as well as a pass breakup. Johnathan Abram and Jeffery Simmons followed with six stops each.

State now hits the road next Saturday, Nov. 18, for its final road game of the 2017 regular season when the Bulldogs take on Arkansas in Fayetteville. The game will kickoff at 11 a.m. CT and be televised by WCBI.

 Head Coach Dan Mullen Quotes

Opening statement…
“I give them a lot of credit. They are an excellent football team. They had a lot of players come up and make some big plays in key moments of the game. They found a way to win there at the end with their players making plays.”

On controlling the time of possession…
“We wanted to control the tempo of the game. I thought we were able to do that most of the night. We gave up too many explosive plays on the defensive side of the ball. I mean they have some great players. Some of their great players made some of those plays happen. Coming in to it, I wanted to control the tempo and play at our tempo. I thought we ran the ball okay most of the night offensively. We did control the tempo of the game. We just didn’t get enough points at the end of the game.”

On coming so close to beating Alabama…
“Frustrating. Our guys played their tails off. They played hard for 60 minutes. That is the No. 1 team in the country, and they are the No. 1 team in the country for a reason. It isn’t easy to beat the No. 1 team in the country. I guess we get opportunities every year, so we will get another shot next year.”

On feeling like he did everything to win this game…
“No. If we did we would have won. As coaches we have to make sure we are putting our guys in the best position. A couple times we didn’t do that today. That was probably the difference in the game right there. If we did everything we could have done, we would have won the game.”

On being able to run the ball…
“That was kind of the plan going in to it. They don’t give up a lot of explosive plays. They have great athletes. When you get to the second level they normally have some really good guys there. The explosives are the difference in the game. We had some opportunities. They hit all of the explosives, and we missed them. That was probably the difference when it comes down to it at the very end.”

On blitzing on 3rd & 15 late in the 4th quarter…
“Well we are an aggressive defense. We came after them. That is our style. We are not going to change our style or get conservative. We will be an attacking style defense. That is what we are. That is who we are. That is how we have had success. If you look at what he did for them, No. 3 (Calvin Ridley) was easily the best player on the field tonight. With the game on the line he made every play. No question, he is the guy.”