No. 2 Alabama sacks No. 17 Mississippi State, 31-6

— It wasn’t until the postgame news conference that Alabama’s Nick Saban could explain why he was roaming the sidelines with a prominent cut and bruise on his left cheek.

Even the Crimson Tide’s coach couldn’t avoid his team’s pass rush.

No. 2 Alabama used a defense that featured nine sacks to beat No. 17 Mississippi State, 31-6, on Saturday night.

Jonathan Allen had a team-high three sacks. He also inadvertently smacked Saban as he was running onto the field in the first quarter.

“He’s a tough guy, he’ll be all right,” Allen said with a grin. “I asked if he was OK and he said he was good.”

Alabama (9-1, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) survived its last real test before the Iron Bowl against Auburn in two weeks, overcoming a slow start by scoring three long touchdowns in the second quarter to beat the Bulldogs (7-3, 3-3) for an eighth consecutive season.

Derrick Henry ran for 204 yards and two touchdowns.

“It was kind of weird game,” Saban said. “Every touchdown was a big play.”

Alabama struggled on offense during the first quarter and had ony 40 yards early in the second. But Cyrus Jones’ 69-yard touchdown on a punt return, when he reversed field and broke a few Mississippi State arm tackles, ended a scoreless tie.

Calvin Ridley then caught a short pass from Jake Coker, made a nifty move at midfield to shake a defender and sprinted for a 60-yard touchdown, pushing Alabama ahead, 14-0.

Coker completed 15 of 25 passes for 144 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

On his first touchdown run, Henry found a seam in the middle of the field and made a 74-yard dash to the end zone. Henry scored on a 65-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Dak Prescott threw for 300 yards but the Bulldogs never got into the end zone. He completed only 22 of 43 passes and constantly had to deal with Alabama’s defense in his face.

Alabama’s nine sacks were the most for the program since 1998 against Vanderbilt.

“You’re looking at 69-, 60-, 74- and 65-yard touchdowns,” Mississippi State Coach Dan Mullen said. “You’re not going to win doing that.”

Mississippi State outgained Alabama, 254 yards to 180, before halftime but squandered a few scoring opportunities.

A fourth and goal at the one was stuffed when Prescott ran into the defensive line and a 50-yard field-goal try fell several yards short. Near the end of the first half, the Bulldogs’ offense was on the move again but Alabama picked up its fifth and sixth sacks to push Mississippi State out of scoring range.

“We thought the one thing that might be in our favor in this game was our defensive line against their offensive line,” Saban said.