Kentucky got the win it needed in Starkville, but what happens next is most important
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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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The worst-case scenario for Kentucky football’s 2023 season is off the table.
With a 24-3 win at Mississippi State on Saturday, Kentucky clinched bowl eligibility for the eighth consecutive season. In the process, the Wildcats snapped a three-game losing streak this season and a six-game losing streak in Starkville.
“We do have bigger goals, but it’s not like you can just take that for granted,” UK coach Mark Stoops said. “It’s not easy. It’s not an easy league because as you know — you see it, you cover it — physically and mentally teams get drained, you get challenged. That’s the resolve that I like to see from our team, just that type of grit. Hopefully we can build on that and put some things together.”
Kentucky did what it was supposed to do against a struggling team in Starkville, controlling the game throughout. The performance was largely forgettable, but what happened at Davis Wade Stadium matters much less than what happens next for Kentucky.
Stoops’ success has elevated expectations for the program to the point where reaching bowl games alone can no longer be considered a success. Securing an extra month of practice to develop young players is essential for the future of the program, but a trip to a lackluster bowl as a 6-6 team will do little to excite the fan base.
Winning at South Carolina on Nov. 18 would at least clinch a winning record, but a victory over a struggling Gamecocks team would not change the perception that Kentucky fell short against all the best teams on its schedule.
Kentucky has two more opportunities to build excitement in the regular season: next week against No. 8 Alabama and in the regular-season finale at No. 13 Louisville. Kentucky has beaten Alabama just twice in 41 games. It has dominated Louisville in recent years, but the Cardinals have surged in the first year of the Jeff Brohm era and have their sights firmly planted on a New Year’s Six bowl game.
The good news is after carrying the offensive progress shown in the loss to Tennessee over for stretches against Mississippi State and adding a dominant defensive showing, there is reason to hope for a victory in at least one of those games.
“A lot of things that fuel that confidence and that swagger,” defensive coordinator Brad White said. “Obviously, we know we’ve got a huge test coming in this week, but I think this is something to build off of.”
The first step is getting quarterback Devin Leary healthy in time to face Alabama.
Leary was forced to the sideline against Mississippi State due to an eye issue that affected his ability to read the play card on his wrist. While he played through the issue for much of the game, it slowed down Kentucky’s offensive communication and led to a few incorrect play calls in the huddle.
“His eye was really blurry,” offensive coordinator Liam Coen said. “Couldn’t read. Hopefully he’s OK. That’s really all I think about.
“… From an execution standpoint, it wasn’t just his fault. Hopefully he’s OK, but that definitely affected our operation.”
Kentucky deserves credit for keeping its composure during the three-game losing streak, staying focused on the incremental improvements coaches promised they were seeing. That resolve should help the Wildcats’ chances in the final three games.
It was certainly evident in Starkville.
After surrendering more than 1,400 yards in the previous three games, UK’s defense limited Mississippi State to just 218 yards. The Bulldogs’ only points came at the end of a 20-play drive in the first half, but even that sequence provided the defense something to be proud of.
“We had multiple missed tackles and we had things sort of go wrong on that drive where you could sort of hang your head at the end and give up a touchdown,” White said. “Or you can battle and finish and force a field goal and basically say, ‘We took your best shot, 19 plays all the way down and all you can come away with is a field goal.’
“I think that helps build confidence. You may be tired on the sideline, but at least you’re confident in the fact that we bowed up when we needed to. At the end of the day, that’s what this game is about.”
Stoops appeared to grow more frustrated with his team’s performance the longer his news conference went, but his opening statement summed up the most important takeaway.
“Make no mistake about it, we needed a win,” he said. “To come on the road in a place we haven’t won in a long time, we needed to win by any means necessary. It was far from pretty, but our team showed the grit and the resolve and the things we need in the program.”
The level of performance in Starkville is unlikely to be good enough to beat Alabama or Louisville, but the final score makes it easier to imagine the Wildcats entering this stretch with the confidence needed to still find the marquee victory lacking thus far.
“We had three losses, but at the end of the day we can still finish out this thing really well, do everything we want to do,” wide receiver Tayvion Robinson said. “This is the first one in the win column, and we want to keep moving forward each week.”
Next game
Alabama at Kentucky
When: Noon Saturday
TV: ESPN
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Alabama 8-1 (6-0 SEC), Kentucky 6-3 (3-3)
Series: Alabama leads 38-2-1
Last meeting: Alabama won 63-3 on Nov. 21, 2020, in Tuscaloosa
This story was originally published November 5, 2023 at 12:36 AM.
