By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
It’s been more than a decade since Kentucky has beaten Mississippi State on the road.
The Wildcats (5-3, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) will take a three-game losing streak into Starkville Saturday, and, based on past experience, Kentucky coach Mark Stoops knows it won’t be an easy task.
“Traditionally, we have had a tough time down there,” said Stoops, who has yet to win a game in Starkville. “We have to get that fixed … It’s another SEC team on the road. Going on the road is really not easy. They have a passionate fan base, they have a team that’s always long and physical and it’s a hostile environment. We’ve always had good games with them.”
Those games have been evenly divided between the two teams during the past eight seasons, with the home team winning each contest. The Wildcats posted a 27-17 win over the Bulldogs a year ago in Lexington.
During the off-season, Mississippi State dealt with the loss of its coach, Mike Leach. Zach Arnett took over for Leach and has employed a two-way system at quarterback, with veteran Will Rogers sharing snaps with former Vanderbilt signal caller Mike Wright. Rogers and Wright have enjoyed past success against Kentucky’s defensive unit. The Bulldogs are 4-4 overall and 1-4 against league foes.
Stoops said preparing for two different quarterbacks will create an issue for his team’s defense, which has struggled during the past month and has given up 122 points in losses to Georgia, Missouri and Tennessee, respectively. Kentucky opened the season with five straight victories.
“We have to prepare for both — two different quarterbacks. With Will, he’s seen everything. He’s seen pressure, he’s seen it all. With Mike, it’s very different,” Stoops said. “There’s so much eye candy going on and so much in their run game that you have to be very precise. And you have to commit a lot with a quarterback who can run the ball but can also hit you down the field. Different obstacles there with the different quarterbacks.”
Kentucky will be looking for more of a balanced approach on the offensive side after throwing for 273 yards in the loss to the Volunteers last week. Stoops and offensive coordinator Liam Coen will be seeking more gains from the team’s backfield anchored by Ray Davis.
“That’s the message (more balance),” Coen said. “That we still have yet to put four quarters of balanced, Kentucky football together on offense. We’ve done some really good things in specific areas. But we haven’t put it all together yet and that’s the goal. We’ve run the ball well in specific games and we showed last week that when we’re doing all the right things and we’re playing at a high level that we can throw ball well. So now, how do we put it all together. That’s the challenge going into this week in Starkville.”
Gametracker: Kentucky at Mississippi State, 7:30 p.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: SEC Network, UK Radio Network.