Ole Miss felt the presence of Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell on Saturday, at least on one play.

As the Rebels’ offense tried to find space against the Tide, quarterback Jaxson Dart took off upfield on a scramble. Campbell noticed, met Dart near midfield and buried his helmet in the quarterback’s chest. The Bryant-Denny Stadium crowd gasped and then cheered while Dart’s helmet popped off.

Looking ahead to the Mississippi State game, UA’s first road SEC contest this Saturday, Alabama may need Campbell and a few others to make an impact off the bench. On Monday, head coach Nick Saban didn’t provide an update on starting linebacker Deontae Lawson after designating Lawson “day-to-day” with a “pretty good” ankle sprain following the 24-10 victory.

“We played most of the game this last week with Jihaad playing and Trezmen (Marshall) playing. So that’ll be the way that we go,” Saban said, “obviously, the depth at that position is going to become critical for us if Deontae can’t go and we’ll keep working with these guys and try to get them ready to go this week.”

Lawson is second on the team with 26 total tackles (freshman safety Caleb Downs has 27). He also has 3.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. But more importantly, Lawson is the defender who receives the play call from Alabama’s defensive coordinator Kevin Steele before relaying it to the team. In addition to formulating a game plan potentially without its signal-calleer, UA may need someone to take on a new role and fast.

Campbell, a sophomore, set a career-high with seven tackles against Ole Miss. Marshall, a transfer from Georgia, had three stops. Kendrick Blackshire also managed a tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry. JuCo transfer Justin Jefferson and second-year player Shawn Murphy may see extended playing time should the Tide need to dig deeper into its bench.

“I think they did a great job of coming in and taking control of their position,” senior defensive back Malachi Moore said about Campbell and Marshall. “I think they did a great job of communicating with the line in the secondary.”

Mississippi State is no longer running the Air Raid offense — a pass-heavy attack led by the late Mike Leach. Kevin Barbay was promoted to offensive coordinator by new head coach Zach Arnett and runs a more “balanced” offense, according to Saban.

The Bulldogs are ranked 11th in the SEC with 1,552 total yards. Its 30.75 points per game are 10th in the conference, ahead of Alabama’s 30.25. Kickoff in Starkville will be at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN.

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Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].