Alabama running back Eddie Lacy runs in for a touchdown against the Spartans on Saturday in the Capital One Bowl at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla. The Crimson Tide rolled over the Spartans, 49-7. Josh Radtke/The State News
Orlando, Fla. — One day before No. 7 MSU and No. 15 Alabama met in the Capital One Bowl, both Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio and Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban said winning the battle in the trenches would be a key to victory.
Both coaches were right, although only one was happy about it, as Alabama (10-3 overall, 5-3 SEC) dominated MSU (11-2, 7-1 Big Ten) dominated the line of scrimmage, especially on defense, on the way to a 49-7 win Saturday in Orlando, Fla.
“You know, they won up front,” Dantonio said. “That’s the difference. You have to win up front if you’re going to play football.”
The Spartans were stymied by the Crimson Tide and its defensive front for all of Saturday’s game, which was the biggest blowout in Capital One Bowl history.
Coming into the game averaging more than 168 yards per game on the ground, MSU was held to -46 yards rushing by Alabama.
Sophomore running back Edwin Baker, a 1,000 yard rusher, echoed the thoughts of his head coach after a game in which he ran for only 14 yards on 12 carries.
“They’re a great team,” Baker said. “They beat us up front today.”
Dantonio said after the game that his team needed to establish the run to be productive offensively. Unable to do that, the Crimson Tide lineman and linebackers were free to pin their ears back and rush the quarterback, which they also did effectively.
On the game, Alabama recorded five sacks along with seven quarterback hurries and spent almost the entire game in MSU’s backfield.
“The name of the game is to affect the quarterback,” Dantonio said. “I would say our quarterbacks got hit between 15 and 20 times easily today. If that’s happening, it takes an effect on you after awhile.”
For junior quarterback Kirk Cousins, he started feeling the effects after a violent hit from his blind side in the fourth quarter, which knocked him out of the game. Cousins said that after the hit, he had a headache and his lower back was bothering him.
“It was an accumulation of hits that ran its course as the game went on,” Cousins said. “That was sort of the final nail in the coffin.”
Chased around the pocket all day, Cousins never found a rhythm and finished the game 10-for-18 with 120 yards and one interception.
After his day was done, Cousins was replaced by redshirt freshman Andrew Maxwell. And not long after Maxwell came in, he too was knocked out of the game with what appeared to be a possible concussion.
Alabama also proved to be the stronger team up front when it had the ball as well.
Five Crimson Tide players ran for at least 36 yards, led by third-string running back Eddie Lacy with 86 yards and two touchdowns on five carries.
In addition, MSU recorded just one quarterback hurry and no sacks.
“I thought the way we dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball was the real key,” Saban said. “They couldn’t run it, we affected their quarterback. We ran it effectively and had time to make plays down the field passing with (quarterback Greg McElroy).”
As a team, Alabama finished with 275 yards and six touchdowns on the ground in a game that was over as quickly as it started.
Dantonio said after watching his team get beat up by the Crimson Tide, he hopes the Spartans will be able to take what happened Saturday and learn from it come next season.
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“The game of football sort of teaches you to get up after you’ve been knocked down,” Dantonio said. “You have to get back on your own two feet and play, that’s what this game teaches you. It was a lesson learned today.”
