#3 Alabama Remains Undefeated In Victory Over Bulldogs

Saturday, November 14

Starkville

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

4-6 , 2-4

#3 Alabama

10-0 , 7-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Alabama	0	14	3	14	31
Mississippi State	0	0	0	3	3

#3 Alabama Remains Undefeated In Victory Over Bulldogs

November 14, 2009 | Football

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

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STARKVILLE, Miss. - Alabama kept its unblemished record intact Saturday evening as the third-ranked Crimson Tide turned back Mississippi State 31-3 in front of a Scott Field record crowd of 58,103 and a nationally-televised ESPN audience.

However, most of the Tide's points came in the final half, as defense was the key in the opening two quarters.

State defenders held the Crimson Tide to only 27 passing yards in the first 15 minutes as both squads failed to put points on the board. Mississippi State (4-6, 2-4) came close on its second drive of the game, but those hopes were dashed when quarterback Tyson Lee's pass was picked off by Alabama's Mark Baron.

In the second quarter, though, the Tide's offense found its rhythm en route to scoring 14 unanswered points.

Bama, which clinched its second-straight Western Division crown last week with a win against LSU, first found pay dirt following a six-play drive that was capped by a 45-yard touchdown reception by Darius Hanks.

Then after a three-and-out series on the Bulldogs' next possession, the Crimson Tide turned to Mark Ingram, who scored on a 1-yard plunge for a 14-0 advantage.

The momentum continued for Alabama (10-0, 7-0) in the second half as the Tide scored on its opening drive thanks to a 39-yard field goal by Leigh Tiffin to go up 17-0.

But in the final frame, the Bulldogs' offense finally put points on the board when Derek DePasquale connected on a 34-yard field goal to close the gap to 17-3.

However, Alabama struck two more times before the final horn sounded, the first a 48-yard pass from Greg McElroy to Julio Jones followed by a 70-yard scoring scamper by Ingram.

Ingram, the SEC's top rusher, finished the day with 149 yards on 19 carries, while McElroy was 13-of-18 passing for 192 yards. Jones proved to be his favorite target, hauling in four passes for 66 yards. As a team, the Tide finished with 444 total yards.

Mississippi State, which travels to Little Rock next Saturday to face Arkansas looking to upend the Razorbacks for the second-straight year, was limited to just 213 yards of total offense. Anthony Dixon, the second-leading rusher in the SEC, accounted for 81 yards on 22 carries to give him 1,083 on the year and 3,685 for his career. Lee threw for 99 yards on 9-of-17 passing and was intercepted twice.