Are the Alabama Crimson Tide on upset alert heading into Week 5 of the 2026 college football season with a top-25 matchup on the road against a rising Mississippi State Bulldogs team on deck?
Alabama (4-0 overall, 2-0 SEC) is No. 7 in the US LBM Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25. Mississippi State (4-0, 2-0) is No. 16.
In an interesting subplot to Saturday's game, Alabama will bus to Starkville early Saturday morning for its 11 a.m. CT kickoff rather than stay at a hotel in Mississippi Friday night.
Coach Kalen DeBoer announced the news on Monday and explained the decision as "trusting a lot of what we have done in the past." He noted that Nick Saban's 2023 Alabama team had also bussed to Starkville early Saturday the last time the Tide played at Mississippi
State.
The difference was the Crimson Tide and Bulldogs kicked off at 8 p.m. CT that night in September 2023.
Joel Klatt questions Kalen DeBoer over travel plans for Alabama at Mississippi State
Fox Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt, for one, was puzzled by DeBoer's decision and compared it to the Los Angeles Rams' recent trip to Australia for their NFL season opener against the San Francisco 49ers.
"I'm sorry, but did we not learn anything from the Rams going to Australia?" Klatt said on the Thursday edition of his popular video podcast and FS1 program. "Kalen DeBoer is rolling the dice. They're going to make the trip to Starkville on Saturday morning before an 11 a.m. kick. It's about a 90-minute drive, so it's not out of the question. It's not crazy, but it's an 11 a.m. kick.
"I almost changed my selection in this game -- almost," Klatt added.
Alas, Alabama's offense is too explosive for Klatt to change his prediction for Saturday's game, the first between the Tide and Bulldogs since 2018 where both teams are ranked in the top 16.
"Alabama can flat-out throw the ball," Klatt said. "Keelon Russell has been dynamic. This is kind of DeBoer's offense, right? The last couple of years, Ty Simpson was very good, there's no doubt. But you're seeing that explosiveness that we saw out of (Michael) Penix and those guys at Washington. And now this week, you're going to see a little bit of a different defense."
Klatt believes that Russell already having a road start against an SEC opponent is big for the first-year quarterback.
"That in your pocket is huge for a young quarterback," Klatt said. "They even went through their lumps early in that game in his first road start, and now he's going to have a wealth of knowledge just from that one start against Kentucky on the road, so now you're going to get in there and face all those cowbells."
Why Joel Klatt believes Alabama QB Keelon Russell could struggle at Mississippi State
Klatt believes Mississippi State defensive coordinator Zach Arnett, who was previously the team's head coach for its bowl game in 2022 and most of the 2023 season following the sudden and tragic passing of beloved coach Mike Leach, could give Russell problems with his 3-3-5 defense.
Klatt said:
"I think it's harder to find the completions against the 3-3-5, partly because it's way easier for that structure of defense to play drop-8 coverage. Only rush three, drop eight into coverage, and then you're sitting there as a quarterback and thinking to yourself, 'Where am I supposed to throw this ball? I don't have the easy completion on the outside. There's too many zone defenders in the underneath areas over the middle, so I don't even have a traditional hook curl or middle hook player. Who is my zone movement key? And I've got three players over the top.' So, it presents a lot of problems post-snap for a quarterback seeing it for the first time."
That's why Klatt believes Russell could get off to a slow start in Saturday's game.
"Early in the game, I would not be shocked at all if Russell is holding the football and doesn't know where to throw it. Because if I was Mississippi State, I would play drop-8. I can't watch the film against South Carolina and in my right mind say to myself, 'Lets see if we can challenge them and see if they can throw it down the field. They will, and they have."
On the other side of the field, Mississippi State's Kamario Taylor has been one of the top quarterbacks in the nation through the first month of the season. Taylor ranks 10th nationally in passing yards with 1,192 through four games.
He's thrown 14 touchdowns to two interceptions, including three touchdown strikes in the Bulldogs' 31-24 come-from-behind win over the Missouri Tigers in Week 4 at Starkville.
"But this is the best defense he will have seen by a wide margin," Klatt said of Taylor, a four-star recruit in the class of 2025 out of Noxubee County High School in Macon, Mississippi. "He has been unbelievable. They can run it a little bit, as well. They'll be at home."
On the plus side for Alabama, Klatt noted the Crimson Tide have faced mobile quarterbacks already this season and highlighted South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers in Week 4's 49-18 blowout of the Gamecocks at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alabama held Sellers to 165 passing yards, though he ran for 72 yards.
Will Alabama football avoid upset at Mississippi State in Week 5? Joel Klatt's final score prediction
While noting the oddsmakers' 5.5-point spread, Klatt gave his final score prediction for Saturday's top-25 Alabama-Mississippi State matchup in Starkville.
"I don't think Bama is going to go in there and blow the doors off of Mississippi State by any stretch of the imagination, but (Alabama) is a better team than Missouri," Klatt said. "This is the best team that Mississippi State will have faced. And as we saw with Ole Miss, if you're just a one-man band, that's not going to play well when you face a real quality opponent like Ole Miss did with Florida.
"Bama has been able to run the football. I like their ability to run the football. You can run that against a three-man defensive front."
Because of that, Klatt sees Alabama emerging victorious over the Bulldogs.
"I think Bama wins this one, 35-28. They're 5 1/2 point favorites. I think they cover the 5 1/2. I'm going road favorite again. Let's go (with) Bama and that explosive offense."
Klatt was 6-5 when picking Alabama games last year. More recently, he correctly predicted the Crimson Tide would beat Kentucky in Week 2 and Florida State in Week 3.
ESPN predicts the final score of Alabama football vs Mississippi State
— Roll Tide Wire (@RollTideWire) October 1, 2026
📸 Matt Bush, USA TODAY Sports https://t.co/WSygV8bjfe pic.twitter.com/8uW8Pll7Nv
Florida football at Missouri, Ohio State vs. Iowa, Miami vs. Clemson, and more college football Week 5 predictions from Joel Klatt
Here are other final score predictions from Fox Sports analyst and color commentator Joel for marquee matchups heading into Week 5 of the 2026 season.
- Florida 42, Missouri 32
- Ohio State 35, Iowa 13
- Miami 42, Clemson 17
- Southern California 35, Washington 21
TV channel, announcers, kickoff time for Alabama vs. Mississippi State
TV announcers, broadcast info for Alabama vs. Mississippi State
— Roll Tide Wire (@RollTideWire) September 29, 2026
📸 Matt Bush, USA TODAY Sports https://t.co/TedAC9SYLb pic.twitter.com/SjCa2rFEla
Kickoff for Alabama-Mississippi State in Week 5 of the 2026 college football season is 11 a.m. CT Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville. The game can be seen on ABC. Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy will have the call of the game. Katie George will report from the sidelines.
Alabama football schedule 2026
All times Central.
- Sept. 5: vs. East Carolina Pirates (W, 48-10)
- Sept. 12: at Kentucky Wildcats (W, 45-17)
- Sept. 19: vs. Florida State Seminoles (W, 50-36)
- Sept. 26: vs. South Carolina Gamecocks (W, 49-18)
- Oct. 3: at Mississippi State Bulldogs, 11 a.m., ABC
- Oct. 10: vs. Georgia Bulldogs, 6:30 p.m., ABC
- Oct. 17: at Tennessee Volunteers, TBA
- Oct. 24: vs. Texas A&M Aggies, TBA
- Nov. 7: at LSU Tigers, TBA
- Nov. 14: at Vanderbilt Commodores, TBA
- Nov. 21: vs. Chattanooga Mocs, 1 p.m., SEC Network+
- Nov. 28: vs. Auburn Tigers, TBA
Record: 4-0, 2-0 SEC.
Contact us at @RollTideWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Alabama Crimson Tide news, notes and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: Joel Klatt gives Alabama football vs. Mississippi State score prediction
