Earlier this season, Alabama followed up a close road contest with a home blowout. And historically, when Alabama has lost, Mississippi State has been there for a soft landing. The Crimson Tide is hoping for a repeat of history this Saturday.

No. 6 Alabama (6-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) hosts the No. 24 Bulldogs (5-2, 2-2) at 6 p.m. in Bryant-Denny Stadium looking for a bounce-back performance, namely on the defensive side. It allowed 52 points against Tennessee, a program record last week. Still, the Tide is a three-touchdown favorite as it’ll be Mike Leach’s Air Raid versus Bryce Young under the lights.

Mississippi State had a three-game winning streak ended at Kentucky with a 27-17 loss. In both of the Bulldogs’ defeats, the Will Rogers-led offense has been held to two touchdowns. In victories, Rogers has thrown for 381.4 yards a game.

Here’s everything Saban and Alabama said about Mississippi State and what the Bulldogs said about the Tide.

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Nick Saban, Alabama head coach

On Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers: “Will Rogers had a great year last year. He’s having an outstanding year this year. They’ve got a lot of really difficult passing concepts to try and defend. They’ve got really good players. They understand what they’re doing. He understands the offense as well as probably the coach and goes out there and executes it. He’s very accurate with the ball. He makes quick decisions and judgments. So this is a very challenging offensive team, and I think it’s very quarterback oriented. Him playing well, which he has done all year long, certainly enhances their opportunity to be successful.”

On junior cornerback Emmanuel Forbes: “He’s a playmaker. Special teams, too. That guy’s a really good cover corner. He’s very aggressive. He’s very instinctive. He’s got really good ball skills. He’s an outstanding player, no doubt.”

On the Bulldogs’ defense: “Well, they’ve got a lot a lot of ball hawkers. They’ve got an experienced defensive team. They play a lot of pressure defense. There’s a lot of movement, a lot of stunting, a lot of blitzing, a lot of penetrating. They’ve got some good pass rushers.”

Will Anderson, Alabama linebacker

On the Bulldogs’ offense: “He can throw the ball really well. They have a great offensive line. They have an Air Raid offense. It’s gonna be a good challenge for us, I’m pretty sure the gameplan is gonna be good, we just have to be able to execute and all of us have to be able to communicate and be on the same page.”

Byron Young, Alabama defensive lineman

On defending the run in an Air Raid scheme: “Personally, I wouldn’t say (run game) it was lackluster. I think they have really good running backs. I think they do, they obviously throw the ball more than they pass the ball but I think they still have a really good running game. They check to their running plays most of the time based off of what we might be in on defense so I think that’s something we obviously gotta be alert for and we gotta respect and we gotta know really when they’re gonna run. I think like we always do we start with stopping the run. I think that’s still gonna be what we start with and then knowing they’re gonna throw the ball, we gotta get prepared to stop the pass as well.”

What the Bulldogs said about the Tide

Head coach Mike Leach: “They have quality players and they’re explosive. Several guys are pretty explosive. I think (Young) is pretty good. He can help himself with his feet.”

Did he see any similarities between his offense and Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel’s? “He’s definitely got some things that look familiar. There are some things that look familiar and I can think of a play, in particular, that we ran back in the day. He’s got his quarterback running that play better than he ran it,” Leach chuckled.

Junior cornerback Emmanuel Forbes — scored a pick-six against Kentucky — on the 2019 loss to Alabama: “We was a young team trying to figure out our identity. It could be loud there and they feed into the energy. Just gotta go in and perform.”

Graduate wide receiver Austin Williams on State’s Alabama history: “We’ve had some struggles in the past, but new year, new game. We’re not worried about all that. Confident in our team, our offense how we’re feeling.”

On Alabama’s defense: “They’re a physical group and they fly around. A lot of playmakers all over the field, definitely respect them. They’re playing well.”

Graduate linebacker Jett Johnson on last year’s loss to the Tide: “We let the logo get us down a little bit, the ‘A’ and stuff.”

Freshman offensive lineman Sam Westmoreland died on Wednesday at age 18, the program announced. Langston Newsome of the Mississippi Clarion Ledger wrote an obituary of Westmoreland’s impact at Tupelo (Miss.) High.

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