Mississippi State Hosts Kentucky in SEC Matchup

The Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-3) face the Kentucky Wildcats (6-1) this Saturday. In this week nine SEC football matchup, both teams will look to improve upon their games and secure a win.

Mississippi State Bulldogs

This weekend, Mississippi State has the home crowd to their advantage. Adding to the excitement, it is the Bulldogs’ homecoming weekend. Head coach Mike Leach said they will use the energy and excitement from the crowd to enhance their game.

Last weekend, Mississippi State beat Vanderbilt 45-6. In this matchup, Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers threw a career-best four touchdowns. Two of these touchdowns were to wide receiver Makai Polk. Coach Leach and the Bulldogs will look to carry the momentum into their matchup against the No. 12 Kentucky Wildcats. Leach commented on Kentucky’s offense, knowing his defense needs to perform well to hold off the Wildcats.

Looking ahead, the Bulldogs will finish this season facing off against some strong teams, including Auburn and Mississippi. Coach Leach will look to use this game as a strong stepping off point for the remainder of the season.

Kentucky Wildcats

The No. 12 Wildcats will face a challenge as they travel to play in Starkville. Head coach Mark Stoops said his team has had difficulty playing in Davis Wade Stadium in front of Mississippi State’s crowd.

Kentucky is well-rested, coming off, what Stoops said, is a much needed bye week. Additionally, the Wildcats used this weekend to rest up and improve their game. Two weeks ago, Kentucky took their only loss of this season against Georgia 13-30.

In their matchup against Mississippi State, coach Stoops will look to focus on his defense.

However, Stoops will also keep an eye on Mississippi State’s strong defense.

Overall, Kentucky will look to improve their impressive record this weekend by taking down the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Key Players

In their game against Vanderbilt, Mississippi State wide receiver Rara Thomas had five receptions for 53 yards. Additionally, he also secured his first touchdown as a Bulldog. Also, Bulldogs quarterback Will Rogers completed 41 of his 47 pass attempts and accounted for four total touchdowns against Vanderbilt.

Kentucky running back Chris Rodriguez has ran for over 700 yards this season, proving himself as a key player on the Wildcats’ offense. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. this Saturday on ESPN.