STARKVILLE — Six days before his team takes the field as the nation’s No. 1 team for the first time, Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen took time Monday to set the stage for MSU’s visit to Kentucky.
Coming off its second bye week of the season, MSU (6-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) will play Kentucky at 2:30 p.m. (WCBI) as the No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 and the Amway Coaches Poll (USA Today).
“It was a good bye week for us,” said Mullen, who has led MSU to nine-straight wins, the nation’s second-longest active winning streak. “Today is a very important day for us at practice. We have to come out going 100 miles per hour to set the tone for this week.”
At Kentucky, the Bulldogs will face a team that’s on the brink of bowl eligibility. At 5-2, Kentucky has set a new high-water mark for wins under coach Mark Stoops, but a 41-3 loss at LSU on Saturday night has robbed Kentucky of its momentum prior to the visit from MSU.
“I don’t think you can use a Saturday night in Baton Rouge as something that defines a season,” Mullen said. “When I look at a team, the first thing I look for is “Do they play hard?” You look at this team, they play hard every snap. They have very, very talented players that have bought in to what Mark is building.”
Asked about his team defending the No. 1 ranking for the first time in school history, Mullen said the Bulldogs will play for the first time “with a target on our backs.” He said the Bulldogs will have to learn how to handle that burden.
While Kentucky lost its momentum after winning five of its first six games for the first time in nearly a decade, MSU will look to recapture the magic from a 6-0 start that included three-straight victories against top-10 teams.
Part of recapturing that momentum started Monday when the Bulldogs hit the practice field for the first time in three days following the open date.
“It was intense,” MSU senior guard Ben Beckwith said. “Guys were juiced up. There was a lot of hitting going on. We were ready to get back to work.”
MSU hasn’t lost in Lexington since 2005. Overall, MSU has won six of the last seven games in the series, and Mullen is 5-0 against Kentucky, though MSU’s veteran coach believes that means little about Saturday’s game.
“They are 5-2, with both losses coming on the road in the SEC,” Mullen said. “One was a double-overtime game. When you look at the improvement they have made, they can compete with anyone.”
Stoops said Monday he hasn’t been surprised by MSU’s meteoric rise to No. 1, the fastest in the history of The AP Top 25.
“They’re a very talented football team,” Stoops said. “You could tell they had a lot of confidence coming into the season just by the way they carried themselves at SEC Media (Days), just listening to them with their quarterback and leadership. … They have a good-looking team.”
Lewis expected to be ‘100 percent’
After missing two games due to a lower leg injury, MSU senior wide receiver Jameon Lewis is expected back in the lineup Saturday.
“We expect to have him back 100 percent. That’s the plan,” Mullen said. “We will see how far we can push him today at practice, then maybe a little more tomorrow, a little more Wednesday.”
Lewis, who entered the season as the SEC’s leading returning receiver, has 15 catches for 223 yards and a touchdown. In his absence, redshirt freshman Gabe Myles, a Starkville High product, filled in nicely. Myles is third on the team with 13 catches. Freshman Jamoral Graham also saw time at slot receiver in Lewis’ absence, making three catches for 35 yards.
“Those guys played so well, did such a good job that we really didn’t miss a beat,” Mullen said. “But when you talk about Jameon, you’re talking about us getting back our most explosive player with the ball in his hands. It’s just one more thing we can use to put pressure on a defense.”
Arkansas game will be played at night
MSU’s game against Arkansas on Nov. 1 at Davis Wade Stadium will kick off at 6 p.m. or 6:15 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN or ESPN2, the SEC announced Monday.
The game time and network will be announced next Sunday following the completion of games this week.
The rest of the Nov. 1 television schedule is: 11 a.m. — Louisiana Monroe at Texas A& (SEC Network); 2:30 p.m. — Florida vs. Georgia (WCBI); 3 p.m. — Kentucky at Missouri (SEC Network); 6 p.m. — Old Dominion at Vanderbilt (ESPNU); 6 p.m. — Arkansas at MSU OR Auburn at Ole Miss (ESPN); 6:15 p.m. — Arkansas at MSU OR Auburn at Ole Miss (ESPN2); 6:30 p.m. — Tennessee at South Carolina (SEC Network).
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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