ESPN 98.1 FM – 850 AM WRUF ESPN 98.1 FM – 850 AM WRUF
Another week, another top-25 matchup. The No. 16 Mississippi State Bulldogs will travel to Lexington, Kentucky to take on the No. 22 Kentucky Wildcats. In series history, the Bulldogs hold the lead over the Wildcats with a record of 25-24. Last season, Kentucky lost 31-17 to Mississippi State in Starkville.
Kentucky needs Will Levis
The Wildcats look toward Saturday to break their two-game losing streak against Ole Miss and South Carolina. In their matchup against Ole Miss, Kentucky quarterback Will Levis suffered a lower-body injury and did not return to the field in their game against South Carolina. However, head coach Mark Stoops said that they have been working Levis back into practice and hope to see him in the game.
Levis is essential to the Kentucky team. This season he completed 97 of 141 attempts, tallied up 1405 yards and has a 12-4 touchdown to interception spread. His return to the field is essential to Kentucky’s success.
Stoops notices that his team struggles to stay within the chains and that Mississippi State’s defense has excelled this season with creating turnovers and negative yardage plays. Once Levis is healthy enough to play, he believes the Wildcats will be better.
Over the course of six games, the Wildcats lost 254 yards compared to their opponent, Mississippi State, who lost 93 yards over six games.
Mississippi State on fire
The Bulldogs look to continue their three-game winning streak on Saturday.
Against their opponents, the offense has been unstoppable. In six games, they have 2,128 passing yards and 640 rushing yards. Quarterback Will Rogers contributed 2,110 passing yards to that total.
Rogers has been a key player completing 202 of 282 attempts and has 22-3 touchdown to interception spread. He now is the conference leader for completions with 946 in his tenure as quarterback. If he scores one more passing touchdown, he will tie Dak Prescott with 70 passing touchdowns for the school record. Rogers needs to work with his team to get around Kentucky’s defense.
Defensively the Bulldogs also have performed well. Linebacker Jett Johnson ranks fourth in the SEC with 57 tackles and cornerback Emmanuel Forbes catching four interceptions. The group as a whole has racked up 14 sacks and 95 sack yards.
