First Scouting Report: At Mississippi State, Mark Stoops tries again in his haunted house
More praise for UK quarterback Devin Leary, this time from SEC Network’s Marty Smith.
— Cameron Drummond (@cdrummond97) September 29, 2023
Smith also added that he plans to finally take up Mark Stoops on Stoops’ offer to try his bourbon pic.twitter.com/TJgLROzGVH
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Game day: No. 21 Tennessee 33, Kentucky 27
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Tennessee football game at Kroger Field.
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An early look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next football game:
The opponent
Kentucky (5-3, 2-3 SEC) will play at Mississippi State (4-4, 1-4 SEC) on Saturday, Nov. 4, at Davis Wade Stadium (seating capacity 61,337) in Starkville, Mississippi.
The game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. (EDT) and be carried by the SEC Network.
Coach Zach Arnett’s Bulldogs lost 27-13 Saturday at SEC West rival Auburn.
Series history
The all-time football series between Kentucky and Mississippi State is tied 25-25.
UK coach Mark Stoops is 4-6 vs. Mississippi State.
Bulldogs head man Zach Arnett will be facing Kentucky for the first time as a head coach.
Most recent meeting
Kentucky running back Christopher Rodriguez ran for 197 yards and two touchdowns and UK quarterback Will Levis threw threw for 230 yards and a TD to lead No. 22 UK to a 27-17 victory over No. 16 Mississippi State at Kroger Field on Oct. 16, 2022.
“That running back pounded us,” Mississippi State coach Mike Leach said afterward about Rodriguez.
The game was a penalty-filled slog, as State was penalized 13 times for 109 yards, while Kentucky was called for 11 penalties for 81 yards.
Know your foe
1. Davis Wade Stadium has recently been a haunted house for Kentucky football — and for UK head man Mark Stoops in particular.
Against the seven SEC teams Kentucky plays annually (for now), the Wildcats have gone the longest without a road win at Mississippi State.
UK has not won in Starkville since Randall Cobb quarterbacked the Cats to a 14-13 victory in 2008 that made the Wildcats bowl-eligible. (It was also the only college game Cobb won as a starting QB).
Under Stoops, Kentucky is 0-5 at Mississippi State, and the last four contests have not even been close. UK has lost by 26 points (2015), 38 (2017), 15 (2019) and 14 (2021) on its four most-recent trips to Starkville.
2. In what is the final season for division play in the Southeastern Conference, Mark Stoops will have a final chance at Mississippi State to earn his first road victory as Kentucky head man on the field of an SEC West foe.
Under Stoops, UK is 0-5 at Mississippi State (its permanent cross-division rival — for now), 0-2 at Alabama, 0-1 at LSU, 0-1 at Texas A&M, 0-1 at Auburn and 0-1 at Mississippi.
Kentucky’s most-recent road victory on the field of an SEC West opponent came two head coaches ago when Rich Brooks directed UK to a 21-14 win at Auburn on Oct. 17, 2009.
3. After the death of Mike Leach, Mississippi State promoted defensive coordinator Zach Arnett to head coach. Arnett scrapped Leach’s famed Air Raid offense in favor of a pro style attack.
The Bulldogs have not been as prolific offensively, and are averaging 25.1 points, 197.8 passing yards and 350.4 yards a game.
Last season, the final year with Leach’s Air Raid in place, MSU averaged 31.6 points, 311.2 passing yards and 392.9 yards a game.
Veteran Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers had his string of 38 straight games started snapped in MSU’s 7-3 victory at Arkansas last week due to a shoulder injury.
In his place Vanderbilt transfer Mike Wright started and ran 11 times for 60 yards and completed 8 of 12 passes for 85 yards and the game’s only touchdown.
UK recalls Wright all too well after he threw for 184 yards and a score and ran for 126 yards and a touchdown to spark Vandy to a 24-21 upset of Kentucky last season at Kroger Field.
Wright was under center again for MSU in the loss at Auburn. He finished 16-of-32 passing for 161 yards with one touchdown and one interception vs. the Tigers, while also running 14 times for a team-high 63 yards.
This story was originally published October 28, 2023 at 10:21 PM.
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