Three takeaways from Kentucky football’s important win over Mississippi State
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Game day: No. 22 Kentucky 27, No. 16 Mississippi State 17
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 football’s 27-17 victory over Mississippi State on Saturday at Kroger Field:
1. Game ball to Brad White
On the same night a week ago, UK’s Brad White was one unhappy defensive coordinator. It wasn’t just that Kentucky had lost 24-14 to South Carolina at Kroger Field. It was that, with the game knotted at 7-7 at halftime, White’s unit had allowed 10 third-quarter points that tipped the affair in the Gamecocks’ favor. Too many missed tackles. Too many errors. Not enough focus.
And next up was Mike Leach’s Mississippi State “Air Raid” offense that had scored 39-plus points in five of its six games. All five had resulted in MSU wins. And the Bulldogs were led by Will Rogers, State’s steady and poised quarterback, who last year had completed a ridiculous 36 of 39 passes against Kentucky in a 31-17 State win in Starkville.
“Our backs were against the wall,” UK cornerback Carrington Valentine said Saturday of the Cats’ two-game losing streak.
White’s defense responded. White responded. He coached up his players all week — “We emphasized tackling all week,” Valentine said — came up with a strong scheme, then made the adjustments that limited the Bulldogs’ offense to just 10 points and 225 total yards.
“Team effort,” UK Coach Mark Stoops said after the game when asked how the Cats slowed State’s Air Raid.
But White was the leader of that effort.
2. Game ball to Will Levis
There was 13:48 left in the third quarter Saturday, with the game tied at 3-3, when UK quarterback Will Levis, the team’s heart and soul, suffered a left shoulder injury when he was hit on a 33-yard completion to Barion Brown. To the locker room went Levis. And with him seemed to go the season.
After all, with Levis sidelined by a foot injury, the Cats had been upset the week before by South Carolina.
Ah, but Levis didn’t just go to the locker room. After being attended to by the UK trainers, the quarterback popped up and sprinted to the locker room. The Cats’ next series, with 8:28 left, the QB had returned to the field, to a large ovation, and resumed his duties. Passer. Emotional leader. Heart and soul.
“It’s hard to give it the recognition it deserves,” Stoops said afterward of Levis’ toughness.
Or skill. On the night, Levis finished 17 of 23 for 230 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He was exceptional on third down, completing 8 of 8 passes for 186 yards, including completions of 21, 31, 33, 31 and 50 yards.
Outside the numbers, it’s hard to overestimate of the lift Levis gave his team when he came sprinting out of the locker room.
3. Game ball to Chris Rodriguez
In his third game back after a four-game suspension, UK’s star running back Chris Rodriguez ran like the Chris Rodriguez of old, and then some. The senior finished with 197 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries.
“That running back in particular pounded us,” State’s Mike Leach said after the game.
Rodriguez benefited from probably UK’s best offensive line performance of the season. Against an attacking Mississippi State defense, Levis was sacked just once. And the Cats finished with 239 yards rushing for the game, easily a season high.
Still, many of Rodriguez’s runs were of the try-and-stop-me variety. He carried Bulldogs on his back. He broke tackles. He refused to be denied. Rodriguez broke a 47-yard run. And on his second touchdown, a 7-yard run, he would simply not be denied.
“I think (UK) played with lower pads than we were. I think they ran their feet on contact. I think they consistently whipped our defensive line with their offensive line,” Leach said. “Then, that running back (Rodriguez) he played as good a game as I’ve seen, to be perfectly honest, as anybody play in the conference so far this year. … He played the best of any back that I’ve seen in the conference.”
This story was originally published October 16, 2022 at 1:20 AM.
