Head Coach Joe Moorhead Discusses How to Beat Alabama and the QB Situation in Weekly Press Conference

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Mississippi State head football coach Joe Moorhead met with the media on Monday to discuss the upcoming game against No. 4 Alabama in Starkville.

The Bulldogs are coming off a busy and productive open week, while Alabama is coming off a 46-41 loss to No. 1 LSU.

“We hit 89 schools and attended 15 games and got a good start on our Alabama gameplan,” Moorhead said.

He opened the weekly press conference by expressing his thanks to all the men and women on Veterans Day for the sacrifices they make for the freedoms we enjoy.

Mississippi State is hoping to keep the momentum going after beating Arkansas 54-24 on Nov. 2. Moorhead likes the mindset that he and the players have right now.

“We’re not going to have to do anything extraordinary. We’re going to have to do the ordinary extraordinarily well,” Moorhead said. “We have to have a great week of practice, we’re going to have to take care of the little things on and of the field and it’s got to be a great week,” he said.

The biggest question mark, once again, is who will be the starting quarterback moving forward? Senior Tommy Stevens took most of Sunday’s practice reps with the starters while freshman Garrett Shrader, who missed the Arkansas game, practiced with the reserves.

Moorhead is referring to the duo as “QB 1A and QB 1B” in no particular order. He said “we’re going to need both of them as we have all year.”

Stevens is as healthy as he’s been all season. He finished 12-of-18 for 172 yards and two touchdowns to go with 15 carries for 74 yards in the much needed win over Arkansas.

”Seeing him throw it accurately and create explosive plays and seeing him run the ball was good,” Moorhead said.

All signs point to Stevens being this week’s starter, right? It’s not that easy, however.

“We’re going to keep practicing and keep giving them reps throughout the week,” Moorhead said. “Maybe one, maybe the other, maybe both,” he said.

“Tommy, from an experience standpoint, has seen more things during the course of his career,” Moorhead said. “Heading into a game against an opponent of this caliber, he can fall back a little bit on that experience,” he said.

You can watch Saturday’s game on ESPN beginning at 11 a.m. CT.