Alabama football’s tough history in Davis Wade Stadium

Alabama football has struggled in Starkville recently

After a disappointing loss on the road last week, Alabama football is looking to bounce back against the Mississippi State Bulldogs. The Tide will be on the road in their second straight night game, and stakes are high.

Alabama should win this game easily, but a loss would completely destroy their hopes of winning both the SEC and a national title. Every game left in the season is a must-win for Alabama football, and that includes their game in Starkville.

Alabama has a great overall history against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs have not beaten the Tide since 2007. However, Alabama football’s history in Davis Wade Stadium has been bleak in recent years.

The last time Alabama played in Starkville was in 2019. They dominated against the weak Bulldogs, but this was still a loss in the eyes of Tide fans. In the game, Tua suffered his infamous hip injury that ended his Alabama football career.

Mac Jones did his best for the rest of the season, but the loss of a healthy Tua Tagovailoa took away Alabama’s hopes of winning a title.

Fans will remember the trip before that as well. It was in 2017. Jalen Hurts was starting at quarterback, and the offense struggled all game. It was similar to Alabama’s performance against Texas A&M last week. Mental errors were killing the Tide, and they were a few plays away from having their season ended.

Thankfully, Alabama scored on the final drive. DeVonta Smith scored a game-winning touchdown, foreshadowing his future score in the championship that season. Mississippi State had a hail-mary attempt to tie the game, but it was not converted.

Both of these games were Tide wins, but that is not Alabama’s standard. They want to dominate in every game they play, and that was not the case in 2017. They also want to remain healthy, which did not happen in 2019.

Alabama will be looking to make a statement on Saturday, but they’ll have to avoid the curse of Starkville.