No college football coaches have produced more clips from news conferences that become national treasures than Alabama's Nick Saban and Mississippi State's Mike Leach.
This Saturday night inside Bryant-Denny Stadium, the two will vie from opposing sidelines for the first time.
Saban seemingly has coined the most phrases since Seinfeld, whether it was "Rat Poison" to combat overconfidence or a "Tin Horn" game against an overmatched foe. His calculated rants in public settings are directed at his players and fans, while Leach hails from a quirkier corner in which he has ranked a conference's mascots, provided wedding advice and even chided his players for spending too much time with their "fat little girlfriends."
When asked this week about the undefeated Crimson Tide, Leach said, "Most of their players we're already familiar with in the recruiting process. They're the guys that hovered around the top of the lists."
Alabama and Mississippi State have one of the most lopsided rivalries in Southeastern Conference history, with the Crimson Tide leading 84-17-3 and possessing 12 consecutive victories. Saturday will mark their seventh all-time meeting on Halloween, with Alabama having won each of the first six.
The Crimson Tide are 31-point favorites this week, a line that simply reflects the annual talent gap between the two. Alabama has assembled No. 1 recruiting classes nationally in three of the past five years, while Mississippi State has ranked 24th twice, 27th once and 28th twice.
Saban has guided Alabama to five national championships after earning his first title at LSU, while Leach is known for his pass-first, pass-often offenses that have taken mundane programs to their highest of highs.
Texas Tech has produced just nine seasons of nine or more wins in the last 65 years, but Leach was responsible for five of them from 2002-09, including an 11-win season in 2008. At Washington State, which has an all-time losing record, Leach led a 37-15 surge from 2015-18 that included the program's first 11-win season in 2018.
"Everybody knows about the offense that Mike Leach runs," Saban said. "They are very pass-oriented with a lot of spread formations, and they've really played well defensively this year. It's a different kind of scheme, so this is going to be a different kind of preparation for us on both sides of the ball relative to what we normally see."
Despite Mississippi State's passion for aerial success, the Bulldogs could not be further behind Alabama at quarterback.
Redshirt junior Mac Jones is averaging a whopping 381 yards per game through the Crimson Tide's 5-0 start, with his 212.8 efficiency rating the highest of any quarterback nationally who has played in multiple games. Leach, meanwhile, is deciding this week whether his 1-3 Bulldogs will start Stanford graduate transfer K.J. Costello, who has thrown 10 interceptions in four games, or true freshman Will Rogers.
Leach was asked this week how he felt about having a true freshman quarterback make his starting debut against Alabama.
"Well, I'm already concerned with it, so I don't know if it makes it more concerning," he said.
Tide still surging
Alabama is strengthening its grip on the nation's No. 1 signing class for the 2021 recruiting cycle, possessing 11 top-100 prospects on the 247Sports.com composite rankings.
The latest to offer a nonbinding pledge to the Crimson Tide is in-state cornerback Ga'Quincy McKinstry of Pinson Valley. The 6-foot, 172-pounder is rated the nation's top cornerback and the No. 24 prospect overall.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.