Nothing like a day-trip to Stark Vegas.

The Alabama Crimson Tide plan on making the 85 mile road trip on gameday from Tuscaloosa to face the 24th-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs for a noon kickoff.

It’s also the beginning of the toughest stretch in Alabama’s schedule. Four out of the next five matchups are ranked matchups, all intraconference.

Let’s take a look at the keys to the game for the Crimson Tide.

Typically, there wouldn’t be a whole lot of concern about Alabama’s defense, but after seeing what the Tide did against Florida State, there’s reason for pause.

There is a lot working against Alabama against 24th-ranked Mississippi State this week.

Including the aforementioned road trip.

DeBoer obviously knows what he’s doing, but to the fan, the trip is a little unnerving – especially given how Mississippi State quarterback Kamario Taylor has taken the college football world by storm.

In his first year as a starter, Taylor is posting otherworldly numbers, completing 70% of his passes, and leading all of the FBS with 14 passing touchdowns. He’s also a dynamic athlete, as he can take off for distance on the ground. In Week 2 against Minnesota, he rushed for 86 yards on 13 attempts.

For as good as Alabama’s defense has been, it has struggled against mobile quarterbacks for the past two seasons. Which is why it needs to limit the amount of damage that Taylor is capable of.

But Starkville will be a scene on Saturday. The bells will be ringing. The music will be blaring. And the crowd will be suffocating.

The Tide will need to stop that as soon as possible.

Alabama has proven that it can get itself out of holes. However, given how impressive Taylor has been, it may be difficult this week.

When the Tide walked into a lion’s den in Lexington against Kentucky, quarterback Keelon Russell looked overwhelmed to start.

He was sacked for 10 yards on the first play, then threw a pick-six two plays later. When Alabama got the ball back, he was strip-sacked.

Then the defense bailed him out with a pick-six of their own.

Russell has four games under his belt as a starter, but the schedule is only going to get tougher. Experience playing in a raucous environment early on should be helpful to Russell and teach him how to figure his way out of a jam.

But will he figure it out? That is the question. How he reacts to that adversity could go a long way toward determining whether the Tide leave Starkville with a win.

While Mississippi State’s offense controls the narrative, its defense has been exceptionally strong.

The Bulldogs have a tremendous linebacker duo in Jalen Smith and Tyler Lockhart, who lead the team in total tackles. But what really sets them apart is their secondary.

Cornerback Jett Jefferson leads the FBS with seven pass breakups, with Kelley Jones right behind him at six.

This plays right into Russell staying composed. The Bulldogs are going to continue to pressure him for as long as they can, and if Russell reacts to it by making panic throws, this may be a long game for the Tide, and an even longer drive back to Tuscaloosa.

Let’s make this simple.

You want to ease Russell into this game. By doing so, you need to deploy your running backs.

Alabama’s run game has been stellar all season, but this will be the biggest test of all. Getting the trio of Daniel Hill, EJ Crowell and Trae’shawn Brown going will only benefit Russell.

The problem, though, is that Mississippi State’s run defense has been among the best over the past three games. Its defense has only allowed 93.7 rushing yards per game over the past three, which is good enough for 19th in the FBS.

Both Smith and Lockhart will be waiting for the backs to sift through the trenches, so it’s on offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb to get creative.

As opposed to years past, this isn’t as easy of a game anymore. Alabama has its hands full.