20/20 Hindsight: #2 Alabama 31 - Mississippi State 3

What We Learned in the SEC: Week 11 | ESPN

1. High Tide offense: Suddenly, Alabama is hitting big plays and spreading the ball around again, which is good news for what’s coming down the road. For the second straight week, the Crimson Tide were more explosive on offense with several different players getting involved. Most encouraging to Alabama fans is that receiver Julio Jones has scored on long touchdown catches for two straight weeks now after scoring just one touchdown in a span of 16 games heading into the LSU game a week ago. When he’s scoring from long distance and involved in this offense, Alabama becomes an entirely different animal offensively. Quarterback Greg McElroy also connected with Darius Hanks on a 45-yard touchdown in the first half. Jones’ 48-yard touchdown came in the second half after Mississippi State had scored its only points of the game. And then on Alabama’s next possession, Mark Ingram burst through a huge hole up the middle and showed that he does indeed have breakaway speed on a 70-yard touchdown run. The Alabama players all talked about the need to generate more explosive plays coming out of that Tennessee game several weeks ago. Well, they’re coming in bunches now.

SEC Helmet Stickers: Week 11 | ESPN

Alabama safety Mark Barron: One of the unsung stories surrounding Alabama’s defense this season has been the job Barron has done stepping in for Rashad Johnson at safety. Barron had two more interceptions in the 31-3 whipping of Mississippi State on Saturday to raise his league-leading total to six. The Crimson Tide’s defense has now held five different teams to single digits this season and hasn’t allowed more than 15 points in its last five games.

Pick on Johnson at Your Own Peril | The Birmingham News

"Mar-quis John-son!" Clap, clap, clap-clap-clap."

Johnson never heard the chant after he single-hand­edly guarded the end zone with three pass breakups and an interception there in a 31-3 victory.

He was probably too busy talking trash to himself.

A scapegoat in the past and still picked on by op­posing quarterbacks, John­son continues to prove he can be a reliable cor­nerback. He's done it by playing more aggressively.

"I ain't gonna lie," John­son said. "Last year was my first year playing and I felt like I had to play conserva­tive. I didn't want to attack. Forget that. Do what got me to college and do what's going to keep me in college and get to the next level. At­tack the ball. Don't be hesi­tant."

Tide Favors Nickel vs MSU (and Florida) Spread | Mobile Press-Register

The Crimson Tide's defensive approach was typically to use nickel formations against the spread, removing linebacker Nico Johnson in favor of third cornerback Marquis Johnson. That moved outside linebacker Cory Reamer inside and put 'Jack' linebacker Eryk Anders as an edge rusher with his hand on the ground.

After the Bulldogs' offense had success the first two drives, the Crimson Tide started the third possession in its base defense. After a three-and-out for MSU, Alabama then switched back to nickel for much of the remainder of the game.

The Bulldogs ended with a season-low 213 yards, including 99 passing yards and 81 rushing yards for tailback Anthony Dixon, who entered Saturday with the season-best yard-per-game average in the SEC.

Alabama Beat Report: Tide Runs Over Mississippi State | Mobile Press-Register

So the beat keeps going for Alabama. Nick Saban's squad could have found trouble in an explosive road atmosphere at Mississippi State, but instead rolled right through the noisy crowd and motivational tactics. It's looking more and more like the only team that can slow Alabama this year is Alabama itself.

Or at the very least, the Florida game may just be something special again.

'Professional' Victory: No. 3 Alabama Takes Care of Business, Routs Mississippi State | Mobile Press-Register

"The word to describe it is 'professional,'" Crimson Tide cornerback Javier Arenas said. "We came out there and handled business."

Alabama's performance proved again that it will take more than atmosphere to cool what the Crimson Tide (10-0, 7-0 SEC) has cooking in year three under coach Nick Saban. Just ask the Bulldogs (4-6, 2-4), who tried pretty much everything, including that late jersey switch and standing room-only tickets for this game.

Bama Makes Its Own Noise | Huntsville Times

"I told our players, 'It's going to be a street fight out there, and you're going to have to go toe-to-toe with them for a while, and we're going to have to change the way they think in terms of the way we play and way we execute,' " Tide coach Nick Saban said. "I'm really proud of our players for the way they did that tonight."

ed.- that's just a nice way of saying "make his ass quit."

Big Plays Result in Touchdowns for Crimson Tide | TideSports.com

The first time the University of Alabama ran the play Saturday, it resulted in a 10-yard gain.

The next time, it produced a 45-yard touchdown pass. The third time, the Crimson Tide cashed in for a 48-yard score.

Variations on the same play produced two of Alabama’s three big-play touchdowns in a 31-3 victory over Mississippi State.

ed.- sounds like a topic for the film room to me.

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