Blue Preview: Your one-click guide to the UK football game vs. Mississippi State
Kentucky vs. Mississippi State
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Kroger Field (normal capacity of 61,000 but attendance capped at 20 percent of that (around 12,200) in 2020 because of the coronavirus).
TV: SEC Network (play-by-play, Tom Hart; analysis, Jordan Rodgers; sideline, Cole Cubelic).
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1.
Satellite Radio: XM Channel 190; Sirius Channel 138; Internet Channel 961.
Records: Kentucky 0-2, Mississippi State 1-1.
Series history: Mississippi State leads 24-23 and has won nine of the past 11 meetings (though UK has won two in a row in Lexington).
Last meeting: Mississippi State won 28-13 on Sept. 21, 2019, at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville.
Line: Kentucky is favored by two points.
The story line
After a crushing 42-41 upset home loss to Mississippi in overtime, a desperate Kentucky is essentially playing to save any chance at a respectable season against former UK assistant Mike Leach and his pass-happy Mississippi State attack.
The number to watch
Mississippi State’s turnovers committed. Through its first two games running Leach’s version of the Air Raid, MSU has turned the ball over a whopping eight times (five interceptions, three lost fumbles). Whether a struggling Kentucky defense that has yet to force a turnover in 2020 can create more Bulldogs miscues could be decisive.
The big threat
K.J. Costello. The graduate transfer quarterback from Stanford was the talk of college football after throwing for 623 yards and five touchdowns to lead Mississippi State to a 44-34 road upset of defending national champion LSU in week one. Arkansas brought Costello back to Earth in week two, however, limiting him to 313 yards passing and one TD on 59 attempts while upsetting the Bulldogs 21-14 in Starkville.
On the spot
The Kentucky secondary. A season ago, UK allowed only nine touchdown passes all season and finished second in the country in passing yards allowed (167.8). This year, Kentucky has already surrendered seven TD tosses in two games and is 51st of 74 teams nationally against the pass (276.5 yards allowed). That is not the ideal setup for facing the nation’s leading passing offense — MSU is averaging 468 yards a game through the air.
The mood
Is despairing. Kentucky fans expected a UK program that won 18 games in the prior two seasons and returned a veteran roster to be 2-0 now. Instead, the Wildcats are in an 0-2 hole with eight SEC games left. A victory over Mississippi State is all but mandatory if Mark Stoops and troops are going to make anything good out of the 2020 season.
This story was originally published October 5, 2020 at 11:31 AM.
