Q&A with Alabama beat writer Nick Kelly

No. 16 Mississippi State will host No. 7 Alabama on Saturday at 11 a.m.with ABC broadcasting the contest.

To preview the matchup, the Daily Journal caught up with Nick Kelly of al.com to discuss the upcoming game.

What are some of your biggest thoughts on how the season's gone for Alabama so far?

There have been some bumps along the way, but hey, 4-0 you'll take, and the schedule has kind of favored them well in terms of, "Hey, you kind of, not necessarily easier games, but you've got some easier games" where you're not playing your first SEC opponent being Georgia, like they had the last two years, and you're not going on the road against a Power 4 opponent in the first game, like they did last year. I think the schedule is set up favorably, almost a little preseason-like, if you will, which is kind of nice because you can just really work out your kinks and really just get to a point where you can see what you have, what you don't have, what your strengths are, where you need to work on things, and luckily the mistakes they've had have not cost them a victory, which is the best kind of learning experience, and so I think that helps. They now have this kind of murderers' row for ranked teams over the next five games.

Talk about how exactly Kalen DeBoer and Ryan Grubbs' offense works and how Keelon Russell brings it to its full potential.

I think the biggest word that comes to mind is "aggressive," and they will get after defenses. They like to push things. They like to go for it on fourth downs that make sense. They get after it, and I think Keelon fits their offense well, fits that mindset well because he's a player that gets after it. He'll make you pay with his arm or his legs, whatever makes sense. I think they like to have an RPO element that they maybe haven't had in recent years as much, but Keelon can bring that, and he's been working on that. He's not perfect at it. There've been some hiccups, but he can certainly be that type of quarterback. He's so talented, though, I don't care what your offense is. They can pretty much make him work. Meaning, you can find a way to use him that suits him well, even if he has to modify your offense. It's a nice marriage so far.

The run game was a point of emphasis in that it wasn't really where it needed to be last season. So far, do you feel like the run game is where it needs to be? Why or why not?

I think it is heading the right direction. Now we haven't seen it against better or high-level opponents, so I don't know if we can say that, "Hey, it's fixed. It's back," but I think you feel encouraged about it, considering they've been able to lean on teams and essentially make life difficult for teams late as the game's gone on. Kentucky, Florida State, the run game in both games, as the game went on, just was overwhelming. I think for both defenses. You feel good about the freshman running backs that they added, E.J. Crowell and Trae'shawn Brown, what they can bring. I mean, they haven't reached their potential yet by any means, and yet they've been really nice pieces for them in that attack. And then Daniel Hill, the Mississippi native, has taken his game to a new level this season. It's a group that I think is headed in the right direction. But again, there's kind of a cautious optimism in terms of once they face better opponents, we'll really get a feel.

What has stood out to you about the defense so far?

The front seven, I think, has been impressive, and we'd heard a lot of good optimism and buzz about some of the additions they made up front, like Devan Thompkins from Southern Cal, or you look at guys like Caleb Woodson for Virginia Tech. Of course, they added a familiar name for Mississippi State fans, Kedrick Bingley-Jones, who is a veteran guy for the rotation on the defensive line. So you knew that they were adding some pieces, but you didn't know how it would quite fit or how well it would go. And so far, it's been impressive. I mean, Devan Thompkins has been probably their biggest addition so far this season defensively. He's been a true difference maker up front. He can rush up the middle, off the edge, and he's a problem. He leads them in sacks, and he's tied for the lead in pressures. I think that's been an encouraging sign. Linebacker-wise, they've been strong considering they've almost hit reset in the middle with the inside linebackers. They unfortunately are without a couple of solid players off the edge right now in Desmond Umeozulu and Justin Hill, who are dealing with injuries, so that could hurt them in terms of the depth and just setting the edge and things like that, but you like that. The secondary was the most experienced and the most proven commodity, and there's a lot of talent there. It's been inconsistent so far, at least from a guy or two. I think that a couple guys need to just play better, and I do think that you still feel good about it, just because there is so much experience there and so much talent there, but there have been a few early busts in coverage or a few mistakes and some things that they want to keep smoothing out.

What are the expectations for Kalen DeBoer this season and how do they apply to this game?

Yeah, that's a good question. I would say the expectations are that he keeps improving on where they were, what they were doing last year. So that means, "Hey, make the playoff again," and ideally you can make it farther in the playoff. And past that, it's, "Hey, don't lose to the teams you're supposed to beat, and don't get blown out." Those are two things that have happened in the first two years of Kalen DeBoer prior to this year that Alabama fans aren't terribly used to, and it doesn't sit well with them, and so I think that's what progress looks like this year. Everyone obviously says that, "Hey, it's natty or bust every year," and it is to an extent. But I think realistically, as long as he's showing improvement, I think that will satisfy a lot of a lot of people in Tuscaloosa. How that applies to this game, before the season started, I would have said, "Well, it's avoiding a loss here because this could be a trap game." But Mississippi State seems pretty good, and this is a ranked matchup now, so I don't know if that quite fits that bill in terms of a trap game any more. Alabama is favored, I believe, but still not … if they lose this game, it won't be like, "Oh my gosh, the world's over" necessarily. It won't sit well. Alabama fans don't like to lose any game, but yeah, I don't know how it'll be viewed. It honestly could just be an important résumé piece for DeBoer and this team to make the playoff.

When you look at the matchup between these teams, where might you see advantages for Alabama and where might you see them for Mississippi State?

I would say Alabama's run defense has been good and could have a slight edge over Mississippi State's rushing attack, even though I think Fluff Bothwell is a really good player. So that's where I'm fascinated to see who wins that matchup. Maybe Alabama's secondary has a slight – I just feel like there's so many areas of this matchup that aren't a clear.. "Hey,, you feel way better about this group than that group." I know it's not a great answer, but I think … I'll say this: I think the fronts of Alabama, both defensively and offensively, could have an advantage, just in terms of talent and maybe size or strength. Again, I haven't seen Mississippi State, I do know that Alabama is much better in the trenches than they were a year ago. So, how Mississippi State handles that will be interesting and might be difficult.

What is an X-factor that might not be getting talked about as much that you feel like could make a huge impact on this game?

I think it's the two rushing attacks. We're talking so much about the quarterbacks, and for good reason. They're both exciting players and maybe two of the best in the country, but we haven't been talking as much about the rushing attacks, where as Alabama has had more success on the ground, and, again, Mississippi State with Fluff, I certainly like what they've been able to do there at times. I think that whoever wins the battle of the rushing attacks might actually have the edge here because ideally you're not giving the other offense the ball too much. You're holding onto it as long as you can so that you don't have to worry about getting beat by the quarterback. I think that could ultimately determine more than we've been talking about.