The game of the week in the SEC is between the Alabama Crimson Tide and Mississippi State Bulldogs. Both teams are top 16 in the Week 5 AP poll and offer one another an opportunity to buttress their respective College Football Playoff resumes.
College GameDay is in Iowa City, which allowed SEC Nation to have the privilege of going to Starkville. Ahead of kickoff, the panel made its picks for the Alabama-Mississippi State matchup. In what’s expected to be a close contest, the panel was unanimous in its choice of the Crimson Tide.
“Mississippi State has to use its crowd today. [They’ll] allow [the Bulldogs] to play with emotion. But you cannot play out of control,” Roman Harper said. “I think Alabama is going to force Mississippi State into one or two turnovers, and then that will be the difference in this game.”
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Harper’s intuition immediately proved accurate. On the fifth play of the game, Bulldog quarterback Kamario Taylor fumbled while attempting a pump fake, giving Alabama the ball at Mississippi State’s 48-yard line. The Crimson Tide quickly scored a touchdown, then doubled-up on Dijon Lee Jr’s 30-yard pick-six.
The Bulldogs answered the second Crimson Tide touchdown with Anthony Evans III’s 2-yard receiving score. With 3:26 remaining in the first quarter, Evans — a senior wideout from Converse, TX — already has seven catches for 72 yards. You can watch Alabama and Mississippi State on ABC.
