Keelon Russell, Alabama turn Nick Saban into false prophet by routing Mississippi State

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STARKVILLE, MS – Nick Saban spoke of Kamario Taylor in biblical terms. He gushed about Mississippi State’s quarterback before the season and throughout September, hailing Taylor as “the truth and the light.”

Call it a false prophecy.

Keelon Russell was the one true Heisman candidate inside Davis Wade Stadium on Saturday.

And so ends Taylor for Heisman.

And so also ends the possibility of Mississippi State to the playoff.

That’s not happening. Not on Alabama’s watch.

College football’s Cinderella story just got crushed by the elephant.

Just like old times, eh?

Super Kamario got a front-row view to Russell’s brilliance. For the first time this season, No. 16 Mississippi State did not possess the best quarterback in the building, a reality that became swiftly apparent.

First drive: Taylor fumbled while trying to pump fake.

Second drive: Taylor threw a brutal pick-six. His arm talent couldn’t offset a telegraph.

How bad did it get for Taylor? He made an awful overthrow and tossed his second interception on what should’ve been an easy checkdown pass.

How good did it get for Russell? He supplied four touchdowns, and, by the fourth quarter, he'd emptied Mississippi State's once-raucous student section.

Before kickoff, Mississippi State fans clanged their cowbells as furiously as ever to create a noise suited for the apocalypse. Well, it indeed proved end times for Taylor’s time in the limelight. By the finish of this one, the cowbells finally stopped clanging, and No. 7 Alabama could celebrate in silence.

Alabama 56, Mississippi State 23.

No trap game, after all. Just a familiar humbling at the hands of an old rival. Mississippi State still hasn’t beaten Alabama since Saban’s first season.

Alabama stays undefeated ahead of Georgia game

Is Alabama back? It’s perhaps a week too soon to make that proclamation — let’s see how Russell fares against Kirby Smart’s defense — but the possibility is in play.

Oh, and there’s this: Kalen DeBoer’s record through 33 games at Alabama is identical to Saban’s at that juncture. True, the situations each inherited were starkly different, but you can forget about any murmurs of a hot seat in Alabama. Sorry to break it to the folks on “First Take,” but DeBoer shot the hot seat into the sun. Way out in Southern California, USC is probably casting a wistful eye at DeBoer’s success.

This Tide offense and this type of quarterback performance must be just what Alabama thought it was getting when it hired DeBoer. Alabama’s punter could’ve taken some PTO. The Tide barely needed him while racking up seven offensive touchdowns and another on defense.

Keelon Russell launches Heisman campaign, Tide routs Mississippi State

If only every down could be third down, Russell would win the Heisman, hands down.

First and second downs were just window dressing for Alabama, before Russell repeatedly uncorked beauties on third down. Two of his three touchdown tosses came on third down. Neither of those was even his best third-down pass. That would be reserved for his a 50-yard dime to Lotzeir Brooks in the second quarter, a critical completion that began to shift what was then a tight contest into the blowout it would become.

The Bulldogs squandered an electric atmosphere, juiced by a September uprising. At the start of the fourth quarter, Mississippi State shot off a series of fireworks and cranked up the techno music with a side dish of cowbell. By then, Russell had the Tide ahead by three scores, and the lead would continue to grow.

More cowbell became the soundtrack to the official launch of Russell’s Heisman campaign.

Alabama dragged Mississippi State into the light and exposed its deficiencies, and Russell left no doubt as to who the superstar was on this field. That's the truth.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's senior national college football columnist. Listen to his podcast, "College Football Unfiltered." Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Keelon Russell, Alabama turn Nick Saban into false prophet by routing Mississippi State

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