State, ’Bama playoff hopes remain intact

It was a football game Mississippi State believes it lost as much Alabama feels it won, but because of college football’s new championship structure, both teams can agree on this — they survived.

In the most significant regular-season football game in the first year of the College Football Playoff, Alabama truly outlasted Mississippi State, 25-20. The Bulldogs, the nation’s consensus No. 1 for six weeks, spotted the nation’s third-ranked team a 19- 0 lead before 101,821 at Bryant-Denny Stadium and, despite statistically dominating the second half, could not finish a comeback.

For a change in this series featuring schools separated by 85 miles of Highway 82 but by so much more in the world of college football, it was Alabama sounding relieved and jubilant to have knocked off the higher-ranked Bulldogs.

“It was a little like the Auburn game, the Cam Newton game here, we got ahead (247 in 2010) ... they came back — that’s what good teams do and that’s why they’re No. 1,” said Alabama coach Nick Saban. “But our team has shown they have an ability to do that. We made plays when we had to today, and I think that was a sign of great competitive character.”

Alabama at 9-1 overall and 6-1 in the league controls its destiny in the SEC West — by beating Auburn here in two weeks, the Tide would go back to the SEC champion-

ship game.

For Mississippi State, 9-1 and 5-1, to make it to Atlanta requires an Alabama loss and two more wins — next week’s home finale with Vanderbilt followed by the Egg Bowl at Ole Miss.

State coach Dan Mullen and quarterback Dak Prescott — who may have killed his Heisman hopes with three interceptions — gave Alabama credit for making plays, for dominating the field-position game, for forcing turnovers.

But in pointing to the yardage advantage (nearly 100 yards) and the six trips inside the Alabama red zone, they sounded like they were talking to the 12 members of the playoff selection committee.

“Potentially 42 points,” is how Mullen described the six red-zone trips that ended in two field goals, two touchdowns and two interceptions. “If we just score in the red zone, it wouldn’t have been a close game. We would’ve won big, but give them the credit. They made all those plays they needed.”

For the first 25 minutes, Alabama had methodically worked State, its wall of future NFL players showing why the Tide has the nation’s best run defense (a safety, on a run play, made it 2-0) and its overlooked quarterback, Blake Sims, directing efficient short-field drives.

When Amari Cooper, Alabama’s Heisman Trophy candidate receiver (still), leaped over two Mississippi State defensive backs to snatch a 50-yard missile from Sims, it looked and sounded like it would be another long, crimson-and-houndstooth day of revelry.

“COOOOP” came the crowd’s percussive roar of approval, and when a ruled fumble was correctly overturned by replay into a Derrick Henry touchdown, the “ROLL TIDE” never sounded louder or more assured.

On social media, Mississippi State’s national championship worthiness was being questioned. From California-based ESPN national radio host Colin Cowherd came this: “This riveting & dynamic Miss St performance is just another reason the SEC is No. 1 by a mile.”

But State responded with impressive drives on six of its final seven possessions — two, however, ending in interceptions that decided the game (one on a tipped ball, one a horrible decision by Prescott).

The winning drive, a 15-play sixminute epic after State had cut it to 19-13 with 14:16 left, featured three third-down conversions of 5-plus yards (two on scrambling runs by Sims).

State lost the game, but its championship hopes remain. Indeed, Prescott and fiery running back Josh Robinson, the Louisiana leaders of the offense, insisted that the Bulldogs expect — and want — another shot at Alabama.

“I still think we’re one of the best four teams in the country,” Prescott said. “We just played one of the other best four teams in the country.”

If Robinson wasn’t quite quoting that old “We’ll Meet Again” song, he captured the melody.

“I’m pretty sure we’re going to see them in the playoff,” Robinson said. “I don’t know when, but I’m pretty sure.”

Ole Miss will have something to say about that, of course. Auburn, too.

But after Saturday, it appears that the nation’s two toughest, most rugged teams have already played — and they may yet meet, again.