The last time Alabama ran the table in the SEC, Greg McElroy was the team’s starting quarterback and not an SEC Network commentator.

With three national championships since that 2009 season, this may be somewhat of a surprise, but the last SEC team to finish the season undefeated was Auburn in 2010.

Alabama hasn’t lost to Mississippi State since 2007, and that loss came on the road. Alabama returns to the friendly confines of Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday to face the Bulldogs, fresh off an upset win against Texas A&M.

While Alabama had a strong win last week, head coach Nick Saban said he doesn’t want to see his team suffer from “relief” syndrome just because the Crimson Tide survived a taxing, physical game with a win. As Saban always stresses, each week begins a clean slate, a new challenge, and this week is no different.

“I think it’s determined by the body of work because each week we have a little different challenge that presents us, whether it’s playing LSU last week in a very difficult environment, coming back home and playing against a very good Mississippi State team, to be able to maintain and not be vulnerable to external factors and other things that make you understand that it’s important that every time you go out there, you’re sort of making a statement about who you are and what you can do,” Saban said at his press conference on Monday.

Very few teams are able to make such statements over the course of an entire season. In 2014, Ohio State began the season poorly. However, the team progressively improved, eventually winning the national championship. Last season, Alabama followed a similar trajectory. The Crimson Tide struggled mightily against Ole Miss but got better every week, eventually winning the national title against a very good Clemson team.

“To do that with consistency throughout the whole season is the challenge for any team,” Saban said. “Some of our teams have done it well, some not as well, but they’ve done it so far. You’ve got to evaluate it on total body of work when it’s all said and done in terms of how they continue to compete.”

Since 2009, Alabama has held Mississippi State to 10 points or fewer in every game except for 2014. That year, the Bulldogs entered the game as the top-ranked team in the country to face an Alabama team ranked No. 4.

Mississippi State scored 20 points that game, mostly on the shoulders of quarterback Dak Prescott. However, Prescott also threw three interceptions to greatly aid Alabama’s cause. Tide fans could be in store for another close game as that matchup in Tuscaloosa came following a 20-13 overtime win for Alabama at LSU.

That said, Alabama’s 2014 squad allowed 18.4 points per game, the second-highest total in Nick Saban’s tenure at Alabama (only the school’s 22 PPG allowed in his debut season was higher).

This year’s team is allowing just 13.2 points per game. If Alabama wants a shot at running the table in the SEC for the first time in seven years, the team needs another consistent outing from its defense Saturday against Mississippi State.