Oct. 25, 2003
Recap?|?Final Stats?|?Quotes?|?Photo Gallery
| Photo Gallery #2
Score: Kentucky 42, Mississippi State 17
The Wildcats improve to 4-4 overall, 1-3 in the SEC, while Mississippi State falls to 2-6 overall, 1-3 in the SEC.
Series Record: UK leads the series 18-13-0, including two wins in a row. The Cats are now 12-4 against the Bulldogs in Commonwealth Stadium.
It was Coach Rich Brooks’ first SEC victory.
UK trailed Mississippi State 17-0 before rallying with 42 unanswered points. The last time Kentucky came back from 17 points down to win a game was Sept. 19, 1998 when Kentucky defeated Indiana 31-27 in Commonwealth Stadium. UK was behind 27-10 in the third quarter before a 21-point rally that won the game.
Trailing 17-0, Kentucky scored touchdowns on six of seven possessions.
Team offensive notes:
The Wildcats scored a season-high 42 points.
The Wildcats had a season-high 256 passing yards.
The Wildcats had a season-high 410 yards of total offense.
Team defensive notes:
Kentucky held its seventh consecutive opponent under 30 points. The last time that happened was 1988-89 when the Wildcats held 12 consecutive opponents under 30 points (the last six games of 1988 and the first six games of 1989). The last time that happened in one season was 1985 when the Wildcats held seven consecutive opponents to less than 30.
Kentucky held MSU to 12 first downs, the fewest by a UK opponent this season.
Kentucky limited MSU to 57 total offensive plays, the fewest by a UK opponent this season.
The last time Kentucky had three interceptions in one game was last season vs. MSU when the Wildcats picked off four Bulldog aerials.
The Wildcats held Justin Jenkins to three receptions for 30 yards. Jenkins came into the game as the leading receiver in the Southeastern Conference, averaging 6.7 receptions and 104.4 receiving yards per game.
QB Jared Lorenzen went 16 of 24 for 256 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions. He had a season-high mark for passing yardage.
Lorenzen moved into fourth place on the SEC career passing list. Lorenzen now has 9,536 career passing yards, moving past Florida’s Shane Matthews (9,287 yards).
Lorenzen now has 75 career TD passes, breaking the UK career record of 74 by Tim Couch.
Lorenzen moved into a tie for third place in SEC history for career touchdown responsibility. Lorenzen is responsible for 83 total touchdowns in his career (75 passing, eight rushing), tying Florida’s Rex Grossman.
WR Derek Abney had an 80-yard punt return for a touchdown in the third quarter, marking his sixth punt return for a TD in his career. He has eight total kick return TDs in his career, including two kickoff return TDs. Three of his six career punt returns have occurred against Mississippi State. With that punt return Abney now:
Ties the NCAA career record of eight total kick return touchdowns by Cliff Branch of Colorado (1970-71) and Johnny Rodgers of Nebraska (1970-72). Branch’s punt return coach at Colorado was current Wildcat special teams coach Steve Ortmayer.
Breaks the SEC career record of five punt return touchdowns by Lee “Long Gone” Nalley of Vanderbilt.
Has broken or tied five NCAA records, nine SEC records, and 12 school records for kick returns.
WR Derek Abney caught a 53-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter. He now totals 18 career TDs for sole possession of second place on the UK career touchdown pass reception list. He was tied at 17 with Steve Meilinger.
WR Derek Abney had 212 all-purpose yards today, moving past LSU’s Dalton Hilliard (5,326) into sixth place on the SEC career list for all-purpose yardage. Abney has 5,362 all-purpose yards as a Wildcat.
FB Ronald “Rock” Johnson rushed for his first career TD in the second quarter.
TB Monquantae Gibson rushed for his first career TD in the fourth quarter.
TB Arliss Beach scored his fifth and sixth career touchdowns today, a one-yard run in the third and fourth quarter.
Kicker Clint Ruth had touchbacks on six out of seven kickoffs. Coming into the game he had 13 touchbacks in his last 20 kickoffs.
FS Claude Sagaille charted his third career interception. He has grabbed an interception in each of his three seasons as a Wildcat.
CB Earven Flowers picked off a Kevin Fant pass in the fourth quarter for his second career INT.
CB Antoine Huffman had his first career interception in the fourth quarter.
