State Drops 20-7 Decision To No. 1 Alabama
STARKVILLE,
Miss. - Mississippi State gave top-ranked Alabama a fight for the
majority of Saturday night, but stifling defense and recovery from
errors ultimately gave the Crimson Tide (10-0, 7-0 SEC) a 20-7 victory
over the Bulldogs (4-6, 1-5).
MSU's defense put forth one of its
best performances of the year, limiting the Crimson Tide to its lowest
point total of 2013. MSU was led by true freshman defensive lineman
Chris Jones and sophomore cornerback Taveze Calhoun. Jones had a sack
and a tackle for loss. Calhoun picked off Tide quarterback A.J.
McCarron twice as the Bulldog defense forced four turnovers over the
course of the game. Kendrick Market led all MSU tacklers with 10 stops.
He also forced a fumble.
Offensively, MSU was led by senior
quarterback Tyler Russell, who completed 15-of-24 passes for 144 yards,
and junior tight end Malcolm Johnson, who caught six passes for 84
yards.
State's lone score of the night, early in the third
quarter, came when offensive lineman Charles Siddoway recovered a loose
MSU fumble in the end zone. At the time, it trimmed Alabama's lead to
10-7.
Qtr Time Scoring Play V-H 1st 07:59 UA - Cade Foster 33 yd field goal, 14-59 7:01 3 - 0 2nd 00:20 UA - Brian Vogler 18 yd pass from AJ McCarron (Cade Foster kick), 6-78 2:29 10 - 0 3rd 10:11 MS - C.Siddoway 0 yd fumble recovery (Evan Sobiesk kick), 5-46 2:42 10 - 7 05:46 UA - Kevin Norwood 11 yd pass from AJ McCarron (Cade Foster kick), 9-77 4:14 17 - 7 4th 12:15 UA - Cade Foster 35 yd field goal, 10-75 4:50 20 - 7 Kickoff time: 6:56 pm • End of Game: 10:02 pm • Total elapsed time: 3:06 Officials: Referee: Mark Curies; Umpire: Johnny Hibbett; Linesman: John Langlois; Line judge: Michael Shirey; Back judge: Scott Vaughan; Field judge: Jabir Walker; Side judge: Richard Rooker; Alternate: Blake Parks; Temperature: 65 • Wind: N at 10 • Weather: Clear skies Fourth largest crowd at Davis Wade Stadium
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