Sunday Hangover: Mississippi State

Because we were away for a good part of Sunday since my son was playing travel basketball, I totally whiffed on getting this post out to the mighty Interwebs yesterday. 

So I'm doing it late. 

What a nerve-wracking game that was on Saturday. 

After watching that game, I am really concerned about Alabama's run defense. Not having Shaun Dion Hamilton, who basically served as co-captain of the defense, really exposed the team a bit. 

I know the commentators discussed how good State's OLine is, but so is Auburn's. And that game looms large in roughly two weeks. 

Some of my other takeaways from the game are the following:

• Calvin Ridley is Alabama's number one receiver, which makes me always question during the game, "Why is he so open? Don't they realize how good he is?" And then I think, "He's open because he's the number one receiver." The guy had 171 yards receiving on 5 catches. 
• Although it didn't seem like they ran the ball that well, in the end, the Tide amassed a total 202 yards rushing. 
• I thought Hurts had one of his better games despite a couple of throws that were off. 
• Our defense needs to get healthy, especially in the linebacking corps. 
• The touchdown pass to Devonta Smith with 31 seconds left was reminiscent of the screen pass to T.J. Yeldon versus LSU in 2012. Good memories.