Three takeaways as Kentucky football gets six takeaways in win over Mississippi State
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Game day: Kentucky 24, Mississippi State 2
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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Three takeaways from Kentucky’s 24-2 victory over Mississippi State on Saturday:
1. A turnover famine turns into a turnover feast
Through its first two games, both losses, the Kentucky defense had failed to force a single turnover. Not a single fumble recovery. Not a single interception. Zilch. “Embarrassing,” UK defensive coordinator Brad White called it during the week leading up to the matchup with Mike Leach’s “Air Raid” offense.
“What a difference a week makes,” UK Coach Mark Stoops said.
Difference, indeed. The Cats intercepted not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, but six passes thrown by Leach’s quarterbacks. It was the most picks by the Wildcats since Mike Archer’s defense, under head coach Bill Curry, intercepted Steve Spurrier’s quarterbacks seven times in 1993 — and still lost 24-20 on Chris Doering’s touchdown catch in the final moments.
Kentucky didn’t lose this one. Josh Paschal got the ball rolling, picking off a K.J. Costello swing pass before motoring 76 yards before the big defensive tackle was brought down at the MSU 2-yard line. Chris Rodriguez scored from there to give UK a 14-0 lead. Then Jamin Davis picked off a Costello pass in the end zone on the final play of the first half when Leach eschewed the field goal from the 4-yard line with six seconds left to try for a touchdown.
UK’s Kelvin Joseph ended Mississippi State’s second possession of the second half with an interception. Even when Leach switched from Costello to freshmen Will Rogers, the turnover train didn’t stop. UK linebacker Boogie Watson made a pick at the goal line. Leach went back to Costello, and the Cats added two more interceptions to his nightmare of a night. Jordan Wright tallied a pick-six with an 8-yard return. And UK’s D’Eryk Jackson intercepted Costello on the final play of the game.
The turnovers were quite a turnaround from last week when the Wildcats gave up 35 points in regulation and 42 overall in that 42-41 overtime loss to Ole Miss. But then again, Lane Kiffin’s Rebels did put up 48 points in a 63-48 loss to Alabama on Saturday.
2. The Kentucky offense struggled and it didn’t matter
Last week, the Wildcats rushed for an eye-popping 408 yards and lost. This week, the Wildcats gained just 157 yards on the night. And won. According to Bryan Fischer of Athlon Sports, it was the fewest yards of total offense for an SEC team in an SEC victory since Missouri gained 160 yards against Florida in 2014 and still beat the Gators.
It was the fewest yards by a Kentucky offense since the Wildcats managed just 149 in a thumping at The Swamp by Florida in 2016. It was the second fewest of the Mark Stoops era. The Cats gained just 84 yards on the ground, 2.6 per carry against a Mississippi State defense that was giving up just 1.91 yards per carry coming into the game.
After a stellar performance against Ole Miss, UK quarterback Terry Wilson struggled mightily. The senior completed just eight of 20 passes for 73 yards. He rushed 13 times for a net of 50 yards, but he had the biggest run of the night, a 51-yard scramble in the second quarter that set up the game’s first score, his 12-yard pass to tight end Keaton Upshaw.
The saving grace on offense was the punting of Max Duffy, who made heads-up play by kicking a bad snap out of the back of the end zone for a safety instead of a Mississippi State touchdown. Plus, all night long it seemed, Duffy kept the Bulldogs pinned back deep in their own territory.
Still, “We struggled on offense,” Stoops said. “We’ve got to do better.”
Especially when, well, that leads us to No. 3.
3. Kentucky travels to Tennessee next Saturday
Next for Kentucky is a trip to Rocky Top. And after defeating Tennessee 29-26 in 2017, Stoops’ troops have had a tough time against the Volunteers. After losing to Georgia at home in a key SEC East game, the Cats turned up flat the next week at Neyland Stadium and lost 24-7 to the Vols. Last year at Kroger Field, Kentucky won the statistical battle but lost the war, falling 17-13 to the Vols.
After a 2-0 start this season, Tennessee got a reality check Saturday at Georgia. Up 21-17 at the half, the Vols were blanked in the second half and left Athens with a 44-21 loss. Tennessee ended up with just 214 total yards on the afternoon, compared to 431 for the victorious Bulldogs.
Meanwhile, Kentucky will need to put both sides of the ball together to win in Knoxville. The offense looked terrific against Ole Miss, though the Rebels’ woeful defense might have had something to do with that. And against Mississippi State, Kentucky’s defense looked like the Kentucky defense we expected when the season began.
It was the fewest points allowed by Kentucky in an SEC game since a 25-0 shutout of Vanderbilt in 1996.
“Everybody was locked in (tonight),” linebacker Jordan Wright said. “We took it like it was the last game of the season.”
Said linebacker Jamin Davis, “All the pieces are coming together now.”
Three takeaways from Kentucky football’s loss to Ole Miss
Three takeaways from Kentucky football’s loss at Auburn
This story was originally published October 11, 2020 at 12:41 AM.
