LEXINGTON, Ky. — K.J. Costello and the air raid offense’s honeymoon in the Southeastern Conference nosedived in the Bluegrass State Saturday night.
Just 14 days since a seemingly era-defining upset over then-No. 6 LSU, MSU (1-2) promptly shrunk into a shell of its offensive self that rode triumphantly out of the Bayou, falling to Kentucky (1-2) 24-2 in Lexington and marking just the fourth time in head coach Mike Leach’s career his team was limited to three or less points.
“We’re on too much of a roller coaster and too quick to get discouraged,” Leach said postgame. “Some of these lessons have to come from experience, but we have to see if we can’t make them happen a lot quicker than they are right now.”
Former Stanford signal-caller K.J. Costello, who entered the game with five interceptions in just eight quarters of play, gifted his sixth of the year to Kentucky defensive end Josh Paschal on a doomed screen pass midway through the second quarter. Paschal returned the errant pass inside the MSU 5-yard line, where a JaVonta Payton tackle was the only thing that saved a score.
Costello’s erratic play lingered into the final seconds of the half. Missing a wide-open Malik Heath in the end zone from the Kentucky 4-yard line, he delivered a high fastball to freshman receiver Jaden Walley that was deflected and intercepted by inside linebacker Jamin Davis to send the Bulldogs into halftime scoreless.
Ineffective and inefficient, a third interception proved the death knell for Costello’s prolific arrival to Starkville as he was yanked in favor of freshman Will Rogers with 1:49 remaining in the third quarter.
“The quick word is ‘consistency,'” Leach said. “And I know you’re getting tired of hearing it and I’m getting tired of saying it because however much you’ve heard it, I’ve said it probably a thousand times more than that. But we just have to get consistent. It’s just a grind and a struggle.”
Rogers, who missed the past two games due to undisclosed reasons, was mildly effective, completing eight of his first 12 passes. And while offering brief optimism, the Brandon High School product’s ill-timed floater from 18 yards out to Osirus Mitchell was ripped out of his clutches on the Kentucky goal line by Jamar Watson for a fourth MSU interception.
Trailing by 14 points just prior to Rogers’ entrance, MSU was gifted its only points of the night on an errant pass by Kentucky long snapper Cade Degrew. With the ball bouncing end over end into the Wildcat end zone, punter Max Duffy booted it into the tunnel behind the east end zone at Kroger Field for a safety.
Returning to Costello under center for three of the final four drives of Saturday’s contest, the California native delivered his fourth interception of the night and third pick-six in as many games as he was crushed by the Kentucky defensive line and lofted a duck into the arms of Wildcats linebacker/defensive end Jordan Wright. Jaunting just eight yards into the end zone, Wright, Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops and the limited blue-and-white crowd delved into hysteria as Mike Leach’s air raid was grounded one final time.
“We’ve just got to focus on consistency and execution,” junior receiver Austin Williams said. “We’ve got to translate what we’re doing during the week to the field on Saturdays and we haven’t been doing that as well as we should be.”
Having been planted into the blue and black checkered turf beneath the goalposts, Costello peered into the rubber pellets beneath his feet. In a matter of just two weeks, MSU’s Heisman hopeful proved a fraud and the Bulldogs’ rip-roaring offensive output was quashed in the Bluegrass State.
“We’re going to have to check some of our group and see who really wants to play here,” Leach said. “Because any malcontents, we’re going to have to purge a couple of those.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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