Undefeated Cats, Bulldogs Square Off in Primetime
Kroger Field promises to be at full volume on Saturday night as Kentucky has a chance to move to 4-0 for the first time in 10 years while also starting Southeastern Conference play 2-0 for the first time since the 1977 team finished league play undefeated. The Cats host No. 14 Mississippi State in a matchup of undefeated teams. Kickoff is 7 p.m. ET and the game will air on ESPN2.
Junior running back Benny Snell, Jr. has continued his assault on the record books this season, piling up 375 yards on 63 carries with three scores. He has moved into fifth place on the school’s career rushing list and now is second with 14 career 100-yard games. He hasn’t been a one-man show either, as sophomore running back A.J. Rose and sophomore quarterback Terry Wilson each have added a 100-yard rushing game through the first two weeks, with Wilson averaging 74.3 yards per game.
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| Kentucky vs. Mississippi State | ||
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| Sat., Sept. 22 – 7:00 p.m. ET Kroger Field Lexington, Ky. Game Notes: UK  | MSU Digital Gameday Program Gameday App Stripe the Stadium |
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| Coverage | ||
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TV: ESPN2 |
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| UK | Team Stats | MSU |
| 3-0 | Record | 3-0 |
| 1-0 | Conference Record | 0-0 |
| 36.7 | Scoring/game | 50.0 |
| 469.7 | Total offense/game | 587.7 |
| 282.3 | Rushing yards/game | 311.7 |
| 187.3 | Passing yards/game | 276.0 |
| 16.0 | Kickoff returns (avg) | 24.9 |
| 8.6 | Punt returns (avg) | 8.6 |
| 45.7 | Punting (avg) | 40.0 |
| 31:44 | Time of possession/game | 30:46 |
| 57.9% | Third down conversion | 61.1% |
| 75.0% | Fourth down conversion | 50.0% |
| 15.3 | Points allowed/game | 8.7 |
| 305.7 | Total yards allowed/game | 259.0 |
| 122.7 | Rush yards allowed/game | 85.0 |
| 183.0 | Pass yards allowed/game | 174.0 |
The last time UK and Miss. State met in Lexington (2016), the Cats scored a 40-38 win on Austin McGinniss’ 51-yard field goal as time expired.
Cat Scratches: First, It Will Be Physical: Mississippi State UK’s Next Test
Kentucky is riding a 3-0 start and plenty of momentum heading into a game this weekend.
The way the Wildcats are playing – particularly in downing Florida on the road – has created plenty of excitement, but Mark Stoops is far from satisfied.
He can’t afford to be with the challenge his team is about to face.
“We’ve got to kick it up a notch,” Stoops said on Monday.
That challenge comes in the form of a Mississippi State team currently ranked 14th in both polls after a 3-0 start identical to UK’s. The Wildcats and Bulldogs will face off in their annual cross-division matchup at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Kroger Field.
“It’s a big opportunity against a ranked opponent at home,” Stoops said. “A lot of reasons why it’s a big game, and part of that is to win at home in a good environment like we’re going to have and I expect this week.”
Mississippi State has outscored its opponents by a combined score of 150-26, including an impressive 31-10 win on the road over Kansas State. The Bulldogs have outgained their opponents by nearly 1,000 yards total this season, averaging north of 300 rushing yards per game and allowing a paltry 2.5 yards per carry on defense…Read More
Scouting Mississippi State
• Mississippi State is 3-0 on the season, all non-conference affairs.
• The Bulldogs traveled to Kansas State in week two and pounded the Wildcats, 31-10, on their home turf, a historically difficult proposition.
• Although Dan Mullen left for Florida, new head coach Joe Moorhead has been involved with winning programs at every stop of his coaching journey, most recently as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Penn State.
• Moorhead won 38 games in four seasons as a head coach at Fordham, leading the Rams to their first winning season in five years and FCS playoff berths each of his final three seasons with the program.
• The Bulldogs have 48 lettermen returning and 17 starters (9 offense, 8 defense).
• Quarterback Nick Fitzgerald is in his third season as the starter and continues to be a dual-threat weapon. He accounted for 350 total yards in last week’s win over Louisiana and ranks tied for SEC lead in rushing at 133.0 yards per game.
• In two games against UK, Fitzgerald has accounted for six touchdowns (two passing, four rushing). He has rushed for 115 (2017) and 107 (2016) yards with two scores on the ground in each game.
• Running back Kylin Hill has been dominant over the first three weeks of the season, rushing for 293 yards and three touchdowns while averaging 9.2 yards per carry. He also has two receiving touchdowns in as many catches.
• The State defense has been stout and disruptive, dialing up 33 tackles for loss in the first two weeks of the season, including 10 sacks.
Series vs. Mississippi State
• Mississippi State leads the all-time series 23-22, but UK holds a 13-9 advantage in games played in Lexington.
• Mississippi State won last year’s meeting, 45-7, in Starkville.
• The Cats won the 2016 meeting, 40-38, in Lexington when Austin MacGinnis drilled a game-winning 51-yard field goal as time expired.
• UK scored 34 points in the second half of that game to erase a 14-6 halftime deficit and overcame a 10-point fourth quarter one to win the game.
• The Bulldogs have rushed for 563 yards the past two seasons, with 282 last year and 281 in 2016.
• State outgained UK 441-260 last season, as Benny Snell, Jr. was held to a career-low 18 yards (not counting the Music City Bowl).
• State has won nine of the past 11 meetings dating to 2007.
• The winning team has scored at least 40 points in each of the past four meetings.
• The teams met for the first time in 1914 and have squared off each of the past 28 seasons. Mississippi State is UK’s permanent crossover foe from the SEC West.
• The Wildcats won eight straight matchups from 1958 to 1990.
Kentucky-Mississippi State Connections
• UK has one player from the state of Mississippi: Senior OL Bunchy Stallings (McComb).
• Mississippi State cornerbacks coach Terrell Buckley was on the Florida State staff at the same time as Mark Stoops, serving a role with the weight room staff in 2010 and 2011.
• Mississippi State does not have a player from the Commonwealth on its roster.
• Miss. State athletics director John Cohen was the head baseball coach at Kentucky from 2004-08.
Cats vs. The Ranked
• Kentucky has played 247 ranked teams in the Associated Press Poll in its history. The Cats are 42-200-5 in those games.
• UK’s last win over a ranked team was two weeks ago on the road at No. 25 Florida, 27-16.
• The Cats are 3-4 against ranked teams since 2015. The wins were over No. 25 Florida (2018), No. 11 Louisville (2016) and No. 25 Missouri (2015).
• UK is 1-6 vs. a ranked Mississippi State team. The lone win came in 1953, a 32-13 win vs. the 20th-ranked Bulldogs in Lexington.
• A win would give the Cats consecutive wins over ranked foes for the first time since 1976-77 (five).
• UK’s last win over a ranked team at home was in 2015 vs. No. 25 Missouri, 21-13.
A UK Win Would…
• Move UK to 4-0 for the first time since 2008.
• Give the Cats their first 2-0 start in SEC play since the 1977 team went undefeated in league play.
• Give UK its first win over a ranked team at home since 2015.
• Give UK its first win over a ranked Mississippi State team since 1953.
• Give UK its first win over a top-15 team since upsetting No. 11 Louisville, 41-38, in 2016 on the road.
• Give UK its first win over a top-15 team at home since upsetting top-ranked LSU in three overtimes, 43-37, in 2007.
• Mark UK’s second-straight win over a ranked team, which has not happened since the Cats won five straight during the 1976 and 1977 seasons.
• Make UK 13-5 over the last 18 regular-season games, the best 18-game regular-season stretch since Nov. 20, 1976 to Oct. 21, 1978 (13-4-1).
• Make UK 9-6 in their last 15 SEC games, the best 15-game SEC stretch since going 9-6 from Oct. 22, 1977 to Nov. 17, 1979.
• Improve UK to 12-3 in its past 15 games at Kroger Field.
• Move the Cats within two victories of bowl eligibility with one game still remaining in the month of September.
• Push UK’s record to 21-5 in games in September over the past five seasons.
• Make Terry Wilson the first quarterback to begin his UK career 4-0 as the starting quarterback since Mike Hartline in the first four games of the 2008 season.
Don Franklin Auto Countdown to Kickoff Show
All-Southeastern Conference defensive end Jeremy Jarmon and former quarterback Dusty Bonner will be alongside host Christi Thomas for the Don Franklin Auto Countdown To Kickoff, the two-hour pregame show that airs prior to each UK football game in 2018.
A live video broadcast of Countdown to Kickoff will air on UKAthletics.com, the UK Athletics mobile app and the Kentucky Football Facebook page.
For home games, Countdown to Kickoff will broadcast live in front of Nutter Field House outside Gate 1 of Kroger Field with special guests and giveaways. The set of the show is conveniently located near the Coke Fan Zone in Nutter Field House and the Cat Walk presented by Chevy.
When the Wildcats are on the road, the show will broadcast from Kroger at the Tates Creek Centre in Lexington.
