Three takeaways from Kentucky football’s dreadful performance at Mississippi State
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Game day: Mississippi State 31, No. 12 Kentucky 17
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday night’s Kentucky-Mississippi State football game at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Miss.
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Three takeaways from Kentucky football’s 31-17 loss at Mississippi State on Saturday:
1. Kentucky got outplayed and outcoached
Doesn’t mean Kentucky is a bad team. Doesn’t mean Mark Stoops and his assistants are bad coaches. But on this night at Davis Wade Stadium, the shoe fit, something Stoops himself admitted after the debacle. “It’s been awhile since we’ve had a game like that,” the UK coach said. “They beat us in all phases. … We got pushed around. … They outcoached us and outplayed us in every area.”
Kentucky was outgained 438-216. Yikes. The Cats turned the ball over four times — yikes again — as quarterback Will Levis threw three interceptions and Chris Rodriguez lost a fumble. Meanwhile, Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers’ passes rarely hit the ground. Rogers completed a ridiculous 92 percent of his throws — not a typo — hitting on 36 of 39 for 344 yards and a touchdown. And Mike Leach, whose Air Raid offense ranked near the bottom of FBS football in rushing yards per game, watched his team outrush the Cas 94-66. Yes, the night was that bad.
“They were just more physical than we were,” Stoops said, adding that he didn’t think his team played a physical brand of football all night. “I don’t think we made one competitive play on defense all night.”
So what happened? Was Kentucky flat after the bye week? COVID-19 made last season an unusual season, but Kentucky defeated Vanderbilt 38-35 off the 2020 bye week. The Cats split their two games off bye weeks in 2019, beating Arkansas 24-20, then losing 17-13 at Tennessee. The 2018 team beat Vanderbilt 14-7 off a bye.
But this team on this night after this year’s bye week, turned in a real-live dud all the way around at Davis Wade Stadium. Stoops is now 0-5 in Starkvegas, and not even altered travel plans — a hotel stay in Starkville — changed the outcome. Ranked 12th in the nation, this is not a bad Kentucky football team. But for Halloween, it sure dressed up as one Saturday night.
2. Liam Coen’s job now is to straighten out Will Levis
Coming off a good performance against a great Georgia defense on Sept. 16, Levis appeared primed to take a significant step forward in his development as a quarterback, something Coen talked about this week. Instead, Saturday night was the Penn State transfer’s worst performance of the season. One step forward, two steps back. Maybe three steps.
Levis completed 17 of 28 passes for 150 yards to go along with his three interceptions. He underthrew some receivers, overthrew others. His decision-making was off, as was his communication with teammates. On one notable pass, Robinson cut inside on a route to the end zone. Levis’ throw went outside. And that was just one example.
“He was pressing, forcing the issue,” Stoops said afterward. “Not just him, we didn’t play very good anywhere.”
Give Mississippi State credit. Leach gets all the attention, but defensive coordinator Zach Arnett is a bright young coach with a bright future. His scheme had Kentucky off balance all night.
Now, as Kentucky’s first-year offensive coordinator, Coen’s focus has to be on rebuilding Levis’ confidence, which undoubtedly took a hit among the cowbells. Grind down hard on the tape. Pinpoint mechanical issues. Pound out progression problems. It’s Coen’s job to figure out what went off the rails Saturday with his quarterback and how to get it fixed.
3. We’re down to the regular season’s final four
Kentucky is now 6-2 overall and 4-2 in the SEC with Tennessee scheduled to visit to Kroger Field next Saturday. After a trip to Vanderbilt, the Cats return home to play New Mexico State before ending the regular season at Louisville.
Let’s focus on Tennessee, the task at hand. Josh Heupel’s high-scoring Vols have had a week off to lick their wounds after a 52-24 loss at Alabama. Given the roster chaos created by the abrupt firing of now former coach Jeremy Pruitt, the Vols have been a little better expected so far this season. They’re 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the SEC. And if Mississippi State remembered last year’s 24-2 loss to Kentucky in Lexington, no doubt Tennessee remembers its 34-7 loss to UK in Knoxville.
But back to the Cats. Stoops had an interesting thing to say in his postgame Zoom session Saturday. “I don’t want to have a football team like this,” he said, later adding, “(We want) to make sure we get the right guys out on the field that play how we want to play.”
It should be interesting this week at the Joe Craft Center, a week in which we’ll be curious to see how this team reacts to what happened Saturday night.
This story was originally published October 31, 2021 at 12:09 AM.
