LEXINGTON, Ky. — Mike Leach saw excellent practices from his Mississippi State team as the Bulldogs prepared to take on Texas A&M and Arkansas in their past two games.
MSU won both those contests handily at home.
But the Bulldogs’ demeanor was lacking early this week as No. 16 Mississippi State prepared for a road game at Kentucky.
“I didn’t think this week of practice was quite what it was versus A&M and Arkansas, in particular on Tuesday and Wednesday,” he said.
The Mississippi State coach said that played a role in the Bulldogs’ 27-17 loss at No. 22 Kentucky on Saturday night, which dropped MSU’s record to 5-2 and 2-2 in the Southeastern Conference.
Leach said his players tried to be too “perfect” in practice and again on Saturday.
Not only were they not perfect, but they weren’t nearly good enough to beat the Wildcats.
“This game’s tough enough that I think there’s always a temptation to look for an opportunity to relax,” Leach said. “I thought offensively and defensively both, we tried to go out there and be too cute.”
Leach said the “symptoms” of the Bulldogs’ poor performance were not found at any one position but were team-wide instead.
To him, that signaled a failure by Mississippi State’s coaching staff in getting its message through to the players: “Compete at the highest level you can.”
Instead, Leach said the Bulldogs became “fat, dumb and happy” after back-to-back wins that shot them up to No. 16 in the nation.
Ultimately, that cost MSU against Kentucky.
“When you go through the type of schedule that we had, it’s tempting to do that,” Leach said. “But the thing is, that’s the last thing you can afford to do.”
No sympathy for defensive fatigue
Mississippi State’s defense was on the field for two straight drives thanks to a pick-six by cornerback Emmanuel Forbes in the fourth quarter.
Kentucky scored a game-sealing touchdown on the second possession, but Leach rejected the idea that the Bulldogs were too tired to counter the Wildcats’ offense.
“My sympathy level on it would rank somewhere below zero,” Leach said.
Kentucky ran 73 plays — “which is not that many plays,” Leach said — to Mississippi State’s 47, a number too low for Leach’s liking.
The Bulldogs coach said he didn’t feel sorry for his defense at all if fatigue was in play. Kentucky was 6 of 15 on third down but an excellent 4 of 5 on fourth down in the game.
“We had them in third-down situations and didn’t get them off the field,” Leach said. “Sometimes we kept them out of the end zone, but we didn’t get them off the field.”
Sharp hurt as O-line shuffles, scuffles
Despite the return of left tackle Kwatrivous Johnson from injury, Mississippi State chose to roll with Nick Jones at tackle and Steven Losoya at left guard.
It was a combination that had worked well in past games, as the Bulldogs did not allow a sack of quarterback Will Rogers against Texas A&M or Arkansas.
An injury to center LaQuinston Sharp in the second quarter Saturday sent things into disarray.
Mississippi State was flagged for multiple false starts, causing so much frustration that Rogers once spiked the ball forcefully into the turf after Jones was penalized for flinching.
Kentucky sacked Rogers twice and hurried him throughout the contest.
“Offensive line, we took turns getting penalties and getting pressure,” Leach said.
Sharp’s injury forced MSU to move Losoya to center and insert Johnson at left guard.
If Sharp — Mississippi State’s best lineman — is out long term, it will pose further problems for the Bulldogs.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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