Kentucky football snaps 3-game losing streak, wins in Starkville for first time since 2008
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Game day: Kentucky 24, Mississippi State 3
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Mississippi State football game at Starkville.
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Kentucky football’s Starkville nightmare is over.
For the first time since 2008, the Wildcats won in Davis Wade Stadium, snapping a six-game losing streak in Starkville and a three-game losing streak this season with a 24-3 win over Mississippi State on Saturday night. The victory came in the last year the two teams will meet as annual cross-division opponents as the SEC is ditching its two division format when Texas and Oklahoma join the league next season.
UK started the game in dominant fashion, sandwiching back to three-and-outs on defense with an eight-play, 62-yard touchdown drive on the Wildcats’ first possession. Like last week against Tennessee, Kentucky struggled to run the ball for much of the first half before a dominant 63-yard touchdown drive just before halftime that saw all but 4 yards come on the ground.
Kentucky quarterback Devin Leary completed 13 of 22 passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns. He did not play in the fourth quarter after taking a hit on a pass to Barion Brown in the end zone that was caught out of bounds. Leary went to the sideline after that hit but returned to the game for one more play following a UK timeout. His final pass of the night was bobbled by Dane Key in the end zone before he fell out of bounds. Leary returned to the field for UK’s final drive of the third quarter but did not attempt a pass. He was sacked on second down then handed off on third-and-22.
Leary did not play in the fourth quarter.
UK’s defense held Mississippi State to a season-low three points. After surrendering more than 1,400 yards in the last three games, Kentucky held Mississippi State to just 218 yards.
TURNING POINT
Mississippi State looked on the verge of pounding its way back into the game after a 20-play drive that took 12:29 of game time resulted in a field goal to pull within 7-3 was followed by a UK punt. The Bulldogs’ momentum was quickly halted though when UK linebacker D’Eryk Jackson intercepted Mike Wright’s pass on the first play of the next drive and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown for a 14-3 UK advantage.
MVP
One week after big games from Key and Brown against Tennessee, it was Tayvion Robinson’s turn to shine. The senior wide receiver finished the game with five catches for 91 yards. He set the tone early with a 7-yard catch on third-and-6 and a 37-yard grab on UK’s first drive. A 19-yard reception in the third quarter put UK in range of the 32-yard Alex Raynor field goal that essentially clinched the victory.
KEY STAT
Saturday’s victory was Mark Stoops’ first in 12 attempts at the home stadium of an SEC West school. Winning at Mississippi State might not mean much for the future since Kentucky will no longer play the Bulldogs every season, but reversing that trend is essential for the Wildcats to find success in a new-look SEC schedule that could include multiple road games per season against current West teams plus Oklahoma and Texas.
This story was originally published November 4, 2023 at 10:53 PM.
