3 takeaways from Kentucky’s win over Mississippi State as Cats end pair of droughts

Kentucky had a pair of losing streaks end Saturday night in Starkville.

The Cats looked to end a 3-game losing streak and become bowl eligible for the 8th straight season. UK also came in with a 6-game losing streak at Mississippi State, including 5 in a row under Mark Stoops. In fact, the home team has won each meeting dating to 2014. That ended Saturday with a 24-3 victory for UK. It was the first win in Starkville since 2008 for UK.

But UK got off to a good start, and by halftime, the Cats had the most points scored in the first half against Mississippi State in Starkville (21) since Sept. 6th, 1997, when they also scored 21.

As the Mississippi State offense continued to struggle, Chris Parsons entered the game early in the 4th quarter and brought energy to the sideline. He started 6-for-12 passing for 67 yards.

Here are our takeaways:

Mississippi State’s marathon drive

There are long drives, and then there was the drive that Mississippi State unleashed in the first half. It went for 12:29 and 20 plays that stretched 88 yards. The Bulldogs managed just a field goal after all that work as they cut their deficit to 7-3.

Mark Stoops at halftime noted that it was something the defense had to avoid. “We can’t give up the long, long drives, that’s No. 1,” he said. “We know (Mike Wright is) a threat running the ball. We have to make some plays 1-on-1.”

Outside of that drive, though, the Bulldogs struggled. By late in the 3rd quarter, they registered their 4th drive that went 3-and-out. On those drives, MSU combined for zero yards.

Kentucky continues non-offensive TD prowess

D’Eryk Jackson made a huge play as the UK offense sputtered early on. Jackson picked off a pass from Mike Wright and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown. It was the team’s 4th non-offensive TD of the season, and it came at a huge time. The Cats had negative-4 rushing yards in the 1st quarter, and Jackson’s play came after UK punted following MSU’s marathon drive. It also put more pressure on the Bulldogs, as they haven’t scored 14 points in either of their last 2 games.

Kentucky gets off to slow start running the ball

With Ray Davis in the backfield, Kentucky has a bona fide rushing threat. But Davis and the running game got off to a slow start Saturday. The Cats had just 58 rushing yards in the 1st half, and Davis mustered just 29 yards.

Davis had a workmanlike effort, but dropped to 3.7 yards per carry by late in the game as UK worked on the clock. He had 20 carries for 73 yards with less than 4 minutes to play.

Keith Farner

A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.