MacGinnis nails 51-yard field goal to finish off Mississippi State 40-38

The word of the offseason was finish.

The word of the bye week was finish.

And somehow Kentucky did.

After a slow start, the Cats finished off Mississippi State in the most dramatic way possible, with a 51-yard field goal at the buzzer to win 40-38 on Saturday night at Commonwealth Stadium.

“Just like we drew it up,” Coach Mark Stoops joked after the victory. “We didn’t always execute to perfection. We seem to like putting some drama in things, but we were really playing some good football.”

The victory, which almost looked like it wouldn’t happen as the Bulldogs went up 38-37 with 1:09 to go on a touchdown pass from Nick Fitzgerald to Fred Ross, snapped a seven-game losing streak to the State.

The Cats managed to go 46 yards in seven plays and Stephen Johnson found Jeff Badet in the middle of the field for an 18-yard pass. The senior wide receiver got down and UK called the timeout to set up the field goal.

“You have to give their kids credit, they made a major play at the end,” Mississippi State Coach Dan Mullen said. “A 51-yard field goal is a heck of a kick by that kid.”

Trailing by double digits in the first half, Kentucky used a little trickery, got two key touchdown passes from Johnson to Badet and a key defensive touchdown from Marcus McWilson to get the victory.

“We showed that resiliency, and we showed that toughness, and all that stuff I talked about is starting to pay off in the offseason with being physically tougher, mentally tougher, and being able to bounce back from adversity,” Stoops said. “That’s what I’m most proud of.”

Kentucky, which has won four of its last five games, earned its third Southeastern Conference victory for the first time since 2009. The Cats are 3-2 in league play for the first time since 1999.

But the win wasn’t without its challenges, including two fumbles by Johnson that led to Mississippi State points. Opponents now have scored 83 points off of Cats miscues this season.

After a first half of fits and starts, Johnson did some good things in the second half, including finding Badet twice for long touchdown passes. The senior wide out’s 40-yard catch late in the third quarter put Kentucky up for good.

Badet finished with seven catches for a career-high 139 yards. Fellow senior Ryan Timmons added three catches for 77 yards.

After going 9-for-22 for 101 yards in the first half, Johnson connected on eight of his 11 passes in the second half and finished with 292 yards. He had key connections on that final drive.

Kentucky (4-3, 3-2 SEC) got the defensive start it wanted, forcing three quick three-and-outs that included plenty of pressure on Fitzgerald, but the offense failed to capitalize on a pretty 15 play, 57-yard drive on its opening possession.

The Cats went for it and got the first down on fourth-and-3, but MacGinnis’ 28-yard field goal pinged off the right upright. The second drive for UK didn’t make it more than 4 yards.

The Bulldogs, who had won six in a row over SEC East foes, didn’t get a first down in the first quarter, and didn’t manage one until there was 9:53 to go in the first half.

MacGinnis’ next try, a season-best tying kick from 46 yards, had no trouble and put the Cats up 3-0 with 10:36 to play in the first half. The field goal capped an eight-play, 30-yard drive.

Mississippi State (2-5, 1-3) had managed just 24 yards of offense in the game before Malik Dear’s 45-yard run for the touchdown midway through the second quarter gave the Bulldogs a 7-3 advantage.

Turnovers that have plagued UK all season came back to haunt the Cats again when Johnson fumbled and the Bulldogs turned it into a 3-yard Fitzgerald touchdown run four plays later.

MacGinnis added a 32-yard field goal with 20 seconds left in the first half to pull the Cats within eight points, 14-6, at the break.

Kentucky went with some trickery to score on their first drive of the second half running a double reverse that started with Snell in the Wildcat, who handed it to Timmons, who slipped it to Johnson, who found Badet for a 44-yard touchdown pass.

The two-point conversation failed and UK trailed 14-12 before the Bulldogs extended their lead with a 36-yard Westin Graves field goal, capping a nine-play, 56-yard drive.

Kentucky went ahead in the third quarter on a big burst from Benny Snell, who took it 34 yards for the touchdown.

Then Johnson found Tavin Richardson in the corner of the end zone on the two-point conversion to give the Cats a 20-17 edge.

Snell led a Kentucky ground attack that racked up 262 yards against State, which was allowing opponents an average of 136.2 yards a game, with 19 carries for 128 yards and the score. Boom Williams added 14 carries for 99 yards.

The Cats’ lead wasn’t for long when Fitzgerald again found the end zone, rushing 38 yards up the middle to give the Bulldogs a 24-20 lead with five minutes to go in the third quarter.

On his fifth pass of the second half, Johnson hurled one over the defense and found Badet again for a 40-yard touchdown.

Then the defense got in on the action as McWilson picked off a Fitzgerald pass and took it 45 yards for the touchdown to put Kentucky up 34-24 early in the fourth quarter.

“It’s definitely a great feeling,” the senior safety said of the win. “I’d say emotions are still high for me, and I’m sure they’re still high for everybody else. They made plays, we made plays and we were able to keep our compos

The Cats were driving and looked primed to go up 17 points, Johnson coughed the ball up again and Mark McLauren scooped and scored from 81 yards out. That defensive touchdown pulled the Bulldogs within three with 9:33 to go.

MacGinnis extended the lead to 37-31 with a 32-yard field goal a few minutes later.

The tears flowed freely after the victory, Snell said.

“All of us were emotional about this game,” he said. “We love this game with all our heart. So when something like that happens, just one place to win or lose the game and we win the game, I have no choice but to cry. We just fought so hard.”

This story was originally published October 22, 2016 at 11:28 PM with the headline "MacGinnis nails 51-yard field goal to finish off Mississippi State 40-38."