Cats Fall at Mississippi State

Quarterback Stephen Johnson passed for 117 yards and rushed for 54 more, but the Kentucky football team lost at Mississippi State 45-7 on Saturday.

Kentucky (5-2, 2-2 SEC) was only able to amass 260 yards of total offense in the game against a stout MSU defense.

After Kentucky punted on its first possession, Mississippi State marched 78 yards in 12 plays, capped by a three-yard touchdown run by quarterback Nick Fitzgerald. The extra point from Jace Christmann made it 7-0 MSU. That would be the score at the end of the first period.

Kentucky tied the game in the second quarter on a play that’s not seen often. Quarterback Stephen Johnson scrambled toward the end zone, but was hit inside the five yard line, forcing him to fumble the ball forward into the end zone where wide receiver Blake Bone caught it on one hop for the score. Austin MacGinnis nailed the point after to tie the game at 7-7.

MSU took the lead back with 3:14 to go in the half on a 31-yard field goal by Christmann, which gave the Bulldogs a 10-7 lead.

After Kentucky was forced to punt, MSU rallied for another score. On fourth-and-one from the Kentucky 40 yard line, Fitzgerald broke loose and rambled for a touchdown to make it 17-7 just before the half.

Kentucky will return to action next Saturday, hosting Tennessee at Kroger Field. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on the SEC Network.