After committing five turnovers in a 23-3 loss to sixth-ranked Penn State the previous Saturday, it was back to basics for No. 8 Alabama when it traveled to Mississippi State in 1986.
Similar to the Tennessee game in Knoxville a few weeks earlier, that meant a steady diet of toss sweeps and counter plays for an MSU defense that was asked to defend just six Mike Shula passes over the course of a picture-perfect afternoon in Starkville.
In thrashing the Vols that season, Alabama ran for 457 yards while passing for just 78. And if UT defenders thought running back Bobby Humphrey was a problem in a 56-28 defeat on the Third Saturday in October, State's would tell you the sophomore was just getting going.
After being held to just 27 yards on 12 carries by a Penn State defense that would eventually carry the Nittany Lions to a national championship win over Miami, Humphrey exploded for his second 200-yard game in three weeks, carrying 30 times for 284 yards (school record at the time) and three touchdowns in UA's 38-3 win over the 19th-ranked Bulldogs.
In setting the tone for what would turn out to be a 514-yard rushing performance, the Alabama offense opened the game with scoring drives of 74 and 88 yards, neither of which featured a pass attempt. Humphrey capped both marches with scoring runs (4 and 20 yards).
Humphrey's classmate, Gene Jelks, added a five-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter and by that point the statement had been made: the Bulldogs weren't going to own the line of scrimmage as PSU had in Tuscaloosa seven days prior.
In addition to working behind an offensive line that included All-SEC performers Wes Neighbors and Bill Condon at center and guard, respectively, Humphrey also benefitted from exceptional blocking from fullback Doug Allen and tight end Howard Cross.
In gashing the State defense on plays that were heavy on pulling linemen, Humphrey surpassed the 100-yard mark early in the second quarter. By the time Humphrey shut it down in the fourth quarter, he had surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the season.
The Alabama team that sent most of the crowd of 42,000 assembled at Scott Field home early was the one preseason prognosticators expected to see over the entirety of head coach Ray Perkins' fourth and final season as the successor to the late Paul "Bear" Bryant. Instead, the 1986 campaign was one of two tales.
There were the first seven games, a stretch highlighted by wins over No. 9 Ohio State, Notre Dame, No. 13 Florida and Tennessee. In the process, UA climbed to No. 2 in the national polls, setting up an epic showdown with Penn State at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Fresh from its dominant performance at UT, Alabama appeared set for a second-half run that would have it in prime position to win its first national title since Bryant's last in 1979. The Nittany Lions not only put a serious damper on those hopes, the manner in which they dismissed UA seemingly had the kind of residual effect typically reserved for Crimson Tide opponents.
What followed was a 3-3 finish to the season that included losses to LSU and Auburn. Alabama, which overcame a combined seven turnovers in wins over OSU and UF, committed a total of 10 turnovers in its three defeats.
Heading into late October, El Paso wasn't in the discussion where UA's bowl possibilities were concerned. A 2-3 finish to the regular season, though, sent the Crimson Tide to west Texas for a Sun Bowl matchup with No. 12 Washington.
A 28-6 win over the Huskies served as a proper send off for seniors like Shula, linebacker Cornelius Bennett, wide receiver Al Bell and placekicker Van Tiffin. Considering they were supported by underclassmen like Humphrey and Derrick Thomas, the prevailing remembrance of the 1986 team was one of what should have been. And, really, the feeling largely summed up Perkins' short stint as coach in total.
On November 1, 1986, Mississippi State didn't have to wonder. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they got Alabama at its best.
What else: The two Alabama quarterbacks who saw action in the game -- Shula and David Smith -- are southpaws ... Shula's lone completion in the game was a 17-yarder to wide receiver Clay Whitehurst ... Tiffin's first extra point of the contest -- his 126th in a row -- set a new NCAA mark for consecutive PATs ... After rushing for a single-season record 1,471 yards in 1986, Humphrey ran for 1,255 yards a year later. If not for an injury-shortened senior campaign, he would likely still rank as UA's all-time leading rusher. Instead, with 3,420 yards, he sits third behind Derrick Henry (3,591) and Shaun Alexander (3,565) ... Humphrey's single-game record of 284 yards stood for 10 years before Alexander raised the bar with 291 yards against LSU in 1996 ... Alabama's rushing output against State in 1986 ranks second on the UA single-game list to the 748 (!) yards it rolled up on Virginia Tech in 1973 ... Between coaches and players, four members of the 1986 Alabama team have served as head coach of the Crimson Tide: Perkins, Shula, Mike DuBose and Joe Kines (interim) ... UA inside linebackers coach Sylvester Croom went on to serve as head coach at Mississippi State, becoming the first African-American to hold the title in SEC.
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Contact Travis Reier by personal message or on Twitter (@travisreier).