Mississippi State scored just two points in last year’s loss at Kentucky.
But the Bulldogs haven’t lost to the Wildcats in Starkville since 2008.
So something will have to give when MSU (3-3, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) hosts 12th-ranked Kentucky (6-1, 4-1 SEC) at 6 p.m. Saturday in Davis Wade Stadium.
To see what it might be, The Dispatch spoke with Josh Moore of the Lexington Herald-Leader. Moore is in his third season as the Herald-Leader’s Kentucky football beat writer.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Kentucky beat Florida and LSU for a 6-0 start before losing to Georgia. What are your overall thoughts on the Wildcats’ 2021 season right now?
Moore: I’d say they’ve exceeded what my expectations were. I thought their first four games were pretty easy, to be honest. I thought they were going to start 4-0 and then maybe struggle in that stretch where they faced Florida, LSU and Georgia. I think they took care of business in both those games. I would say they have the potential to be the best team, at least regular season-wise, in Kentucky history. Obviously, the next five games will have a lot to say about where that will end up. They’ve got State this week, they host Tennessee, they’ll go to Vandy, they host New Mexico State, and then they go to Louisville. I think a lot of how their season goes is going to depend on these next two, really. If you told me any way that these next two games played out, I would believe you given the track record. I would believe it if they won both of these games handily; I’d believe it if they lost both of them by a wide margin.
Mark Stoops has had well-publicized struggles in Starkville. What’s typically gone wrong for him and his teams at Davis Wade Stadium in the past?
Moore: It’s timed out in a way where every time they’ve played, they’ve sort of had some issues with the quarterback situation a lot of times going to Starkville — somebody’s hurt or they’re not playing well or whatever it might be. One difference is this year they have an established quarterback (Will Levis) who they know is going to start. He’s fully healthy and kind of adds a wrinkle offensively that they’ve been missing the last couple times they’ve gone down there to Starkville. It’s a tough trip. Under Stoops, they’ve been a program where the name on the jersey of the team they’re playing seems like it gets them hyped up. I think they play down to their competition — not to say Mississippi State’s a lesser team, because I think they’re not — but the name isn’t an LSU or a Florida or whatever. Sometimes that gets in their heads a little bit. And the cowbells. But that’s something they’ve handled well this year. Georgia was really loud. So far, they’ve handled the sound and crowd noise really well, so we’ll see how the cowbells go.
It sounds like this Kentucky team is set up a lot better to face MSU than maybe in years past. Why is that?
Moore: It starts with Levis. He’s a pretty poised, confident kid, a good leader. His arm’s really strong, and that’s the first thing you hear about him as a player. He’s not like a freak athlete like some of the quarterbacks they’ve had back there in the last few years, but he’s a tough runner who isn’t afraid to take a hit. He’ll go right into a linebacker if he needs to. He has the respect of the locker room. That’s been a big deal for Kentucky. Wan’dale Robinson, the receiver — that’s another thing they’ve kind of been missing the last few years. I think part of what kept Terry Wilson back a little bit was they didn’t really have the stud receiver, and the one year they did, Terry Wilson got hurt and Lynn Bowden ended up playing quarterback most of the year. That was the last time they went down to Mississippi State. The Wan’dale-Levis thing, that’s the biggest difference offensively for this team, just having those two. They still want to run the ball — that’s kind of still Kentucky’s M.O. — and now they sort of have that extra component. It’s worked out more often than not. You hear, ‘You’ve got to run to set up the pass’ a lot of times. I think for Kentucky, they’re going to need to pass to open up the run a little bit. I do think Mississippi State has some matchup advantages in terms of being able to stop Kentucky if they’re not able to connect in the passing game.
Mississippi State’s offense has been pretty inconsistent, not exactly where you see a Mike Leach Air Raid offense. How do you think they match up with Kentucky’s defense so far?
Moore: I think they’ll be able to move the ball. Whether they score or not is another situation because Kentucky has been really good in the red zone. Kentucky’s corners have been really on a roller-coaster this year. That group’s been really good at Kentucky the last few years, and they struggled out of the gate. They’ve kind of picked it up a little bit the past few weeks, but they’ve also not been tried as much. I haven’t watched enough of Mississippi State yet to know really where they want to go with things, but I do think the safeties for Kentucky have played really well. That’s a group that can make a lot of plays, but if you get on the one-on-ones on the edges with the corners, I think that’s an area where Mississippi State will be able to make a little bit of room for itself to run.
If you’re comfortable making one, what’s your prediction for how Saturday’s game will play out?
Moore: I’m going to pick Kentucky. I don’t feel awesome about it. I really think the first few series are going to kind of determine this game. I’ll say Kentucky 29, Mississippi State 24.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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