Losses to LSU and Auburn hurt, but at least those teams have been consistent winners in recent years. The Northern Illinois and Hawaii losses back in 2003 hurt, but they didn't hit that close to home. Losses to Ole Miss, South Carolina and Minnesota were just plain frustrating.

But Saturday's 24-16 loss to Mississippi State has to rank as the Crimson Tide's worst loss since Mike Shula became Alabama's coach in 2003.

Alabama (6-4, 2-4 SEC) chose Shula over Sylvester Croom as its coach in May 2003, and Mississippi State then hired Croom, a former Alabama player and assistant coach, following the 2003 season. As if that's not bad enough, Alabama lost at home to a Mississippi State team with a 23-game SEC road losing streak.

"That's embarrassing, man," Alabama tailback Ken Darby said. "We're all feeling bad. We all feel like we should have won that game. We know we should have won that game."

Instead, the Crimson Tide fell behind 24-10 in the first half when quarterback John Parker Wilson's pass was intercepted by Mississippi State linebacker Quinton Culberson and returned 51 yards for a touchdown.

The Alabama defense provided seven points on safety Jeffrey Dukes' 24-interception return for a touchdown and allowed only 71 second-half yards, but the damage was done when the defense allowed 131 rushing yards and the offense failed to score a touchdown on four trips inside the Mississippi State 20-yard line.

"This was just a really tough day," Shula said. "I know we're a better football team than what we saw out there today. We thought we'd be further along by now. It's my job to get this team where they need to be."

Shula had better get it done quickly, because the Tide is in serious danger of finishing 6-6 with LSU and Auburn remaining on the regular-season schedule. He started by spending extra time talking to his team in the locker room after the Mississippi State loss.

"It was a little emotional," Wilson said. "He just really challenged us. We got two big games left. We can really step up and show our character, or we can fold. I think, based on this team, we'll step up and work hard and get ready for the last two games."

   GAME BALL GOES TO: WR DJ Hall -- Even with fellow WR Keith Brown still limited by a nagging knee injury, Hall came through with his sixth 100-yard game of the season. Hall finished with 10 catches for 125 yards and now leads Alabama with 48 receptions for 857 yards and five touchdowns this season.

   KEEP AN EYE ON: LB Prince Hall -- Alabama's redshirt freshman linebacker led the defense with 13 tackles.

   QUOTE TO NOTE: "I'm not a player that's going to single out a player. I just know we've got to play better. I don't know exactly what the reason is for it. They didn't do anything we didn't expect them to do. They pretty much ran the same defense we practiced for all week. They blitzed the same linebackers we saw blitzing all week. They just sat up and played base, and I guess they did a better job than we did executing the game plan." -- Alabama center Antoine Caldwell.

   LOOKING GOOD: FS Jeffrey Dukes -- His 24-yard interception return for a touchdown tied the game at 10-10 in the second quarter.

DE Wallace Gilberry -- Gilberry recorded four tackles and a sack and forced a fumble.

K Jamie Christensen -- He did his part to give the Tide some points with three field goals and an extra point.

   STILL NEEDS WORK: TB Ken Darby and the running game -- Darby may be the Crimson Tide's third-leading career rusher, but it didn't matter once again on Saturday. Darby added another frustrating chapter to a disappointing season with 54 yards on 13 carries.

TB Jimmy Johns -- After making negative comments about his relationship with Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom early in the week, Johns carried just once for 1 yard.

QB John Parker Wilson -- Wilson opened his first season as a starter with seven consecutive 200-yard games. With 187 yards against Mississippi State he has now passed for less than 200 yards in three consecutive games. Of course, he also spent most of the game scrambling for time and space to throw because of pass-protection problems.

   ROSTER REPORT: Alabama had hoped to get more help from WR Keith Brown and Johns, but it didn't happen because of nagging injuries (Brown's knee, Johns' ankle). Neither one played in the first half. In the second half, Brown had one carry on a reverse for minus-2 yards and Johns had his one carry for 1 yard. He also took a hard hit on a kickoff.

The pass protection suffered and so did Wilson. Offensive line coach Bob Connelly even pulled right tackle Chris Capps in the middle of a series in the first quarter after Capps failed to two consecutive plays against Mississippi State DE Titus Brown, but backup Kyle Tatum also struggled and Capps returned to the game.