The Mississippi State game is important for Alabama for multiple reasons. For starters, it's important because it's the next one. When you approach each week with a "1-0" mentality, each game becomes critically important on the micro level.
But on the macro level, this weekend's matchup in Starkville is of high importance, too. A win would give Alabama the 5-0 start it coveted and be a giant step toward the College Football Playoff.
This game might be more difficult on paper for the Crimson Tide than many expected, but some of us pointed to this as a difficult challenge for Alabama in the preseason, particularly with Georgia looming in Tuscaloosa next week. The fact that Mississippi State is undefeated and ranked No. 16 may work to DeBoer's advantage, as it's much easier to get the team ready for an opponent that is undefeated and ranked than one flying under the radar.
The common thought is that Alabama needs to be 10-2 in the regular season to get into the College Football Playoff. It would be hard to see a 10-2 SEC team missing the playoff, especially with a nine-game league schedule and 10 matchups against Power Four opponents.
So beating Mississippi State this weekend would mean Alabama needs to go just 5-2 the rest of the way. Those seven games include two "easier" SEC games at Vanderbilt and at home vs. Auburn, along with FCS opponent Chattanooga lumped in between.
It would give Alabama a margin for error in the four games that follow this weekend in Starkville, which has long been pointed to as the stretch that will define the season for the Crimson Tide: vs. Georgia, at Tennessee, vs. Texas A&M, at LSU.
Alabama can take a significant step toward the College Football Playoff by beating Mississippi State
Winning this weekend will be easier said than done. Mississippi State has the best team it has had in many years. Kamario Taylor is a legit star at quarterback, and he will present a plethora of problems for Kane Wommack's defense.
Starkville is never an easy place to play. The 60,000 ringing cowbells are difficult to prepare for. This is just the second road start of Keelon Russell's career, and he didn't handle his first road environment in Lexington in Week 2 particularly well early on. He turned the ball over three times in the first half, which is a recipe for a loss this week against Mississippi State.
How Russell and the Alabama offense handle the raucous road crowd will go a long way in deciding this matchup. The Tide's defense will need to look more like the dominant one we saw in Lexington three weeks ago and less like the leaky unit we saw in Tuscaloosa the last two weeks.
This is Alabama's biggest challenge to date. A win positions the Tide well in the playoff race. A loss puts a lot of pressure on next week's home matchup against Georgia, which is the best team on Alabama's regular-season schedule by a wide margin.
Losing back-to-back the next two weeks would remove any margin for error left, meaning Alabama would need to win six straight games to get into the College Football Playoff. That would be a tall task for a young team with road games in Knoxville and Baton Rouge still to come.
So DeBoer should treat this game like a playoff game because it effectively is. A win would significantly increase the Crimson Tide's odds of a second straight playoff berth. A loss would amplify the pressure of next week and the rest of the season.
It's only the first weekend of October, but Saturday's game is of massive importance for Alabama.
By any means, they need to find a way to get the job done and leave Starkville 5-0.
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