Alabama defenders Jarrick Williams, C.J. Mosley and Brandon Ivory sack Mississippi quarterback Bo Wallace for a fourth-quarter safety in the top-ranked Crimson Tide’s 25-0 win Saturday night.TIDE, TAKE THREE• 1. Alabama and Georgia State have met once before, the Crimson Tide winning 63-7 in 2010.• 2. Since the start of the 2008 season, the Crimson Tide essentially have the same record inside Bryant-Denny Stadium (34-3) as away from it (31-4).• 3. Alabama is 43-0 when winning the turnover battle since the start of the 2008 season.
Alabama hosts Georgia State this Saturday in a football game that could pit the best and worst of the 125 Bowl Subdivision teams.
The No. 1 Crimson Tide have won three of the last four national championships, while the Panthers have lost three of their four games this season to Championship-level teams. Samford, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Jacksonville State all topped Georgia State, with UTC’s Mocs providing a 42-14 pummelling at the Georgia Dome on Sept. 7.
Tide coach Nick Saban opened his weekly news conference in Tuscaloosa by praising his team’s effort in the 25-0 skunking of Ole Miss, and then he addressed this week’s foe. Saturday’s game has a 12:21 p.m. kickoff on SEC TV.
“We respect every opponent that we play, regardless of their record,” Saban said. “The team that we play has talented players who can make plays, and our focus needs to be on what we need to do to improve as a team. They have a good coaching staff and do a good job of coaching their players.”