Alabama beat Mississippi State 41-0 Saturday night, improving to 6-0 for the season.
Here are some takeaways from the game:
OFFENSE
— DeVonta Smith continues to cement his place atop the wide receiver categories within Alabama’s record book. The senior wide receiver had his latest massive performance on Saturday, finishing with 11 catches, 203 yards and four touchdown catches. No one else in Crimson Tide history has ever had a four-plus touchdown receiving game. Smith now has two. The fourth touchdown catch was also the 31st of Smith’s Alabama career, tying him with Amari Cooper for first place in school history. In addition, Smith tied Cooper with his third career 200-yard receiving game. No one else in Tide history has more than one.
— It was another sharp performance from Mac Jones. The redshirt junior quarterback finished 24 of 31 for 291 yards with the four touchdown passes to Smith and no interceptions against the SEC’s top-ranked defense. Through six games, Jones is completing 79 percent of his passes, has thrown for an average of 366 yards per game and has 16 touchdown passes with only two interceptions.
— While Jones and the passing game continue to put up big numbers, so does Najee Harris. The senior running back ran for 119 yards while averaging 5.7 yards per carry vs. Mississippi State. He also had six catches for 36 yards.
DEFENSE
— Pete Golding’s defense has been playing at a pretty high level ever since the end of the first half against Georgia Oct. 17. That continued against Mississippi State. It was Alabama’s first shutout since 2018. In addition, the defense allowed just 200 yards and forced three turnovers. After allowing a combined 72 points in six quarters vs. Ole Miss and Georgia, the Tide defense has allowed just 17 total points during the last 10 quarters against Georgia, Tennessee and Mississippi State. Alabama also got a defensive touchdown for the second straight game. This time, it was a late pick-six from star cornerback Patrick Surtain that pushed the Tide lead to 41-0.
— Freshman outside linebacker Will Anderson was one of the standouts for Alabama on Saturday. The promising five-star recruit tallied five tackles, two tackles for a loss and two quarterback hurries.
SPECIAL TEAMS
— Will Reichard is still perfect on field goals for the season. The sophomore was 2 for 2 on Saturday and is now 8 of 8 for the year. One of his makes on Saturday was a 40-yarder.
Matt Zenitz is a senior SEC football reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mzenitz.
