Mississippi State has won four straight football games, three straight against power conference schools and two straight against Southeastern Conference foes.

The Bulldogs have moved up to No. 16 in the Associated Press poll, the first time they have been ranked so high since September of 2020. They have a budding superstar in quarterback Kamario Taylor. They have a terrific runner in uniquely named Fluff Bothwell. They have a fleet of speedy, glue-fingered receivers and a salty defense.

State fans are ecstatic. They are, as they themselves put it, feeling quite wooly, which is to say quite optimistic – really fired up, you might say.

So, naturally, this is when the next game on the schedule is Alabama, which has sheared State’s wool so many times, this veteran scribe long ago lost count. Let’s put it this way: Over the years, Alabama has been the hammer to State’s nail. 

State-Alabama is often referred to as the SEC’s closest rivalry, as far as proximity. The two schools are roughly 82 miles apart on U.S. 82. But you would never call it the SEC’s closest rivalry in terms of competitiveness, because Alabama has thoroughly dominated.

The first time they played back in 1898, Alabama won 20-0. The last time they played in 2023, Alabama won 40-17. In between, it has mostly been more of the same. It’s hard to even call it a rivalry because that term connotes a certain level of fierce competition. But State has won only 17 of 108 games, and that’s not competitive in any way, shape or form.

Alabama has won all of the last 10 meetings between the two and by an average of 25 points per game. And I know what many readers are thinking. But those other State teams didn’t have Kamario and Fluff. This Saturday will be different.

And it might be. That’s why they play. This could be the season. This Saturday could be the game. This time, Alabama is only a five-point favorite.

But there have been other times when the situation was much the same, when State was wild and wooly and even undefeated going into a game against the mighty Crimson Tide. Let’s take a look, shall we?

Let’s start with a dozen years ago. Remember? How could you forget Nov. 15, 2014? The Bulldogs, led by Dak Prescott were 9-0 and ranked No. 1 in the land, and had held that ranking for five consecutive weeks. You talk about wooly!

So, they make the 90-minute drive on U.S. 82 to Bryant-Denny Stadium, and you know what happened. Nick Saban’s Tide scored first on a safety and led 19-0 before State could get anything going. The Bulldogs rallied in the second half, but Bama put the game away with one of those time-consuming, numbing, 15-play scoring drives State fans have seen so often. That Alabama team went on to win the SEC Championship. That State team, its bubble pricked by a Crimson needle, lost three of its last four games, including the Egg Bowl to Ole Miss and the Orange Bowl to Georgia Tech.

“We should feel awful,” Dan Mullen said after the Alabama game. They did. State usually does after Alabama.

Take for example, two years before, in 2012. State was 7-0, ranked No. 11 in the country, headed to Tuscaloosa to face No. 1 ranked and likewise undefeated Alabama. It was no contest. Bama led 24-0 at halftime and 38-0 before State finally got on the scoreboard late in the fourth quarter. Saban’s Crimson legion marched on to another national championship. State lost five of its last six and finished 8-5.

And then then there was 2010, when State had won six straight heading to Tuscaloosa. It was no contest. Alabama led 20-3 at halftime and cruised to a 30-10 victory.

If there has ever been a State coach who had Alabama’s number, he was Alabama alumnus Jackie Sherrill, whose teams stemmed the Tide five times. Of course, Alabama won seven times of 12 over State, which managed to win five of 12 meetings with Alabama, his alma mater, while he was at State, which in this rivalry constitutes amazing Bulldog success.

But even Sherrill lost the one he probably wanted the most. That was in 1999, the year the Bulldogs won the SEC West. The Bulldogs, with realistic national championship hopes, were ranked No. 8, 8-0 overall and 4-0 in the SEC headed to Tuscaloosa, but lost 19-7, managing only 24 rushing yards on 22 carries.

And then there was 1986, Rockey Felker’s promising first season as State’s head coach. The Bulldogs were 6-2 and ranked No. 19 with Alabama coming to Scott Field. Turns out, Felker had been doing it with mirrors, and Alabama shattered them. Nothing fancy, mind you, Alabama just pitched the ball to running back Bobby Humphrey, who carried 30 times for a school-record 284 yards before going to the sidelines early. Didn’t matter. Alabama ran for a ridiculous 515 yards and started the game with three long touchdown drives, never needing to throw a single pass. In the press box, trying to stay interested, sports writers started a lottery with each Alabama drive, guessing how many plays it would take the Tide to score. It was that bad.

And it usually is when these two teams play. But there have been exceptions. Sherrill produced five of the 17, and Emory Bellard produced the biggest of all in 1980: State 6, No. 1 Bama 3. 

No matter what else happens, State fans will always have 1980. It was a wooly day at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium.