Lexington, KY - #16 Mississippi State was outmatched by #22 Kentucky as they fell to the Wildcats 27-17.
An ugly first half by both sides kept State in the game as they went into the break tied 3-3, but it was all Kentucky in the second half. The Wildcats were the better team in all aspects of the game, and they outgained the Bulldogs 478-225.
Mississippi State had a chance to get back in it, as Emmanuel Forbes housed his 2nd pick-six on his 5th interception of the season to make it a 20-17 game, but the Wildcats put the Dogs away right after. State brought pressure on a crucial 3rd down, but Will Levis saw the busted coverage downfield for a 50-yard completion to Dekel Crowdus, and Chris Rodriguez punched in the dagger touchdown with 5:30 to play.
Will Rogers threw an interception to Kentucky linebacker DeAndre Square on State's next drive, and it allowed the Wildcats to chew off the rest of the clock.
1) Kentucky dominated the trenches
The scoreboard might not have indicated it with a 3-3 halftime score, but the Kentucky offense got the best of the State defense in the first half. The Wildcats outgained the Bulldogs 177-96 in the first half, but penalties derailed the Kentucky offense.
A much cleaner second half from Kentucky opened up their offense, and the "Big Blue Wall" dominated the Mississippi State front in the second half. Running back Chris Rodriguez busted off a 47-yard run, scored two touchdowns, and finished the game with 196 rushing yards on 30 attempts.
The Kentucky defense had an entirely different philosophy than Arkansas and Texas A&M did to stop the Air Raid offense and the pressure that the Cats brought gave the Bulldogs trouble all night. Kentucky only sacked Will Rogers once, but he struggled with the different blitzes and looks that the Wildcats brought, and it resulted in a season-low 203 passing yards.
2) Penalties a Killer
It was an ugly game penalty-wise on both sides in this matchup, but while the Cats cleaned it up in the 2nd half, the Bulldogs kept shooting themselves in the foot all game.
Offensively, six false start penalties killed momentum moving the ball downfield, but defensive penalties in key situations were the biggest difference. State had a 3-0 lead with under a minute to go in the first half, but the Wildcats were able to drive down into field goal range after a holding by Emmanuel Forbes and a holding and unnecessary roughness by Decamerion Richardson.
Later the Bulldog defense had a crucial 3rd and 3 down 13-10, and they forced a stop as they batted down Levis's pass at the line of scrimmage, but a holding downfield by Jackie Matthews extended the Kentucky drive. The Wildcats took advantage of the Bulldogs' mistake and drove down another 49 yards, capped off by a 16-yard Chris Rodriguez touchdown.
3) Kentucky won the middle 8
Mike Leach is an aggressive coach, but the confidence in his offense may have hurt his team today. The Bulldogs won the coin toss and elected to take the ball. They ended up having to punt, and Kentucky was able to take advantage of that.
Mississippi State went for it on 4th and 8 late in the 2nd half but were unsuccessful, which gave Kentucky the ball at the UK 35 with 47 seconds left, and they drove down for a field goal to end the half. Leach's decision to take the opening kickoff gave Kentucky the ball to start the 3rd quarter, and they drove down for another field goal.
Six points might not have been the difference in the ball game, but the momentum it gave the Cats to start the second half certainly didn't help the Bulldogs chances.
