Mississippi State vs. Alabama Football Betting Odds & Spread

Written November 12, 2008 by Jason Lowry

The No.1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide (10-0) look to keep their perfect season alive when they host the 3-6 Mississippi State Bulldogs this Saturday. The Tide needed everything in the tank last week, as they squeaked out a 27-21 win on the road over No.15 LSU. As for the Bulldogs they lost a heartbreaker to Kentucky at home 14-13 in their last game, as the Wildcats blocked the extra point on what would have been the game tying touchdown early in the 4th quarter. The oddsmakers are all Alabama in this one, as the Crimson Tide come in 20.5 point favorites over the Bulldogs at Bookmaker.com

The Bulldogs blew another chance to win the game after the blocked extra point, as Adam Carlson missed a 27-yard field goal that would have likely won the game. The Bulldogs have had 2 weeks to prepare for the game against the Tide this weekend, but its hard to imagine if they were given a month that they could pull off the upset. In their game against Kentucky quarterback Tyson Lee threw for 261 yards and 2 touchdowns with one going to Brandon Mcrae and the other to Arnil Stallworth. The Bulldogs had little to no running game against the Wildcats, and thats something they better get use to going up against Alabama’s strong defense this weekend. If you look back to earlier this season the Bulldogs did play LSU to a 10 point game on the road, so maybe they can at least hang with the Tide in this one.

The Bulldogs defense is the key to this one, as they can’t let Alabama hit the big plays and they have to force them into making mistakes. Alabama has been known to stall on the offensive end of things at times, and if Mississippi State wants any chance of keeping this one close, they have to take advantage of these dry spells the Tide go through. Playing on the road will likely prove to be too much for this team, but you never know in college football. Bet Mississippi State +20.5 at Bookmaker.com

Now getting to Alabama and how they need just two more wins in the regular season, and likely a huge win over Florida in the SEC Championship game to get them into the BCS National Championship game, and though many think this team will slip up somewhere along the way, its hard to imagine it being this weekend against the Bulldogs. In the Tide’s last game against LSU quarterback John Parker Wilson scored his second 1 yard touchdown run of the day to win the game in overtime. Wilson wound up throwing for 215 yards and most of them went to freshman Julio Jones, who had 7 catches for 128 yards. The Tide also got a lot of help from running back Glen Coffee who ran it 26 times for 126 yards and a score.With Mississippi State having little offense, all this unit has to do is score in the 20′s and this one is over.

The reason for that is the Tide’s defense is one of the best the SEC has to offer, and if it wasn’t for Rashad Johnson’s 54 yard interception returned for a touchdown the Tide’s perfect season might be no more. That wasn’t the only takeaway this defense had, as they totaled 4 picks off LSU quarterback Jarrett Lee. This defense is the reason this team is undefeated, and is the reason this team has a chance to remain undefeated. Its likely the Tide will head into the SEC title game with a perfect record, but a matchup against Florida or rematch against Georgia is likely what will keep them from going all the way. Bet Alabama -20.5 at Bookmaker.com

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