What Kentucky football’s win over Mississippi State means for rest of season
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Game day: No. 22 Kentucky 27, No. 16 Mississippi State 17
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Mississippi State football game at Kroger Field in Lexington.
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Kentucky football improved to 5-2 on the 2022 season and 2-2 in SEC play with a 27-17 win over Mississippi State on Saturday.
Here is a closer look at what the loss means beyond the scoreboard.
HOPE FOR SEC EAST RACE RETURNS
Back-to-back losses to Ole Miss and South Carolina put Kentucky’s hopes of contending in the SEC East race on life support. Thanks to the performances of Georgia and Tennessee this season, the Wildcats still remain a long shot in the division, but the win over No. 16 Mississippi State at least kept some hope alive.
Kentucky now has an off week to gain some needed rest as injuries have piled up in recent weeks. After the off week, the Wildcats travel to Knoxville to face a Tennessee team likely to be ranked in the top five after its win over Alabama on Saturday. Kentucky figures to be a substantial underdog in that game, but if Kentucky can pull off the upset, it would pass Tennessee for second in the division.
Even if Kentucky wins the rest of its SEC games, it would still need the winner of Georgia-Tennessee to lose to someone other than the Wildcats to win the division. Georgia still has to play Florida, Tennessee and Mississippi State before closing the SEC slate against Kentucky on Nov. 19 in Lexington. Tennessee has Georgia, Missouri, South Carolina and Vanderbilt on the schedule after Kentucky.
Of course, for any of that to matter, Kentucky will need to play much cleaner than it did Saturday with 10 first-half penalties.
TIME FOR SOME MUCH-NEEDED REST
The upcoming off week comes at a critical moment in Kentucky’s season.
The Wildcats were without two normal starters against Mississippi State: wide receiver Tayvion Robinson (leg) and middle linebacker Jacquez Jones (foot). UK Coach Mark Stoops has been guarded with the amount of information he has released on injuries this season, but there is optimism around the program both players could be back for the Tennessee game.
Right tackle Jeremy Flax returned from a one-game absence with a hamstring injury but lasted just one series before being injured again. Quarterback Will Levis returned to the field against Mississippi State after missing the South Carolina game with a foot injury but was briefly sidelined in the third quarter after taking another hard hit. While Levis was able to play well enough to win against the Bulldogs, another week is clearly needed as the toll of so many hits this season mounts.
A number of other Wildcats are dealing with minor nagging injuries that are not severe enough to keep them off the field. A week without a game should help that group as well.
BACK TO .500 IN THE SERIES
With the victory, Kentucky pulled even with Mississippi State in the all-time series between the two programs at 25-25. The two cross-division rivals have traded wins the last eight years with the home team winning every game in the series since 2015.
Kentucky now has a .500 or better record against five SEC programs: Missouri (8-4), Vanderbilt (48-42-4), Arkansas (5-3), Mississippi State (25-25) and Texas A&M (1-1).
Saturday’s matchup marked the first time Kentucky and Mississippi State had met with both teams ranked in the Associated Press top 25. With a win at Florida in September, Kentucky now has two wins over opponents ranked in the top 25 at the time of the game this season. UK has beaten multiple ranked teams in three straight seasons.
This story was originally published October 15, 2022 at 11:04 PM.
