Taking a position-by-position look at Kentucky (4-2) at Mississippi State (5-2), here’s who has the edge in Saturday’s showdown between the Wildcats and Bulldogs:

QUARTERBACK — Mississippi State: As expected, Dak Prescott has been steady at quarterback this season. His 65.8 completion percentage leads all active SEC quarterbacks, and his 279.1 yards of total offense per game is 2nd only to Ole Miss’ Chad Kelly in the SEC. Plus, it’s getting to the point where you have to wonder if he’s going to throw an interception this season. Prescott has thrown 11 touchdowns and no picks this season, and he’s on a streak of 274 consecutive interception-free passes, the 3rd-longest streak in SEC history.

Kentucky’s Patrick Towles is 4th in the SEC in passing yards per game with 252 yards per game, but his TD-INT ratio of 8-7 isn’t anything to brag about. Neither is his QB rating of 131.2, which is 9th in the SEC. His last outing against Auburn may have encapsulated his season. He threw for a bunch of yards (359), but he had no touchdowns and an interception in the end zone, which is the first and only time Kentucky hasn’t come away with points in the red zone this season. It proved costly as the Wildcats lost by 3 points at home.

RUNNING BACKS — Kentucky: The Wildcats actually rank lower than the Bulldogs in rushing yards per game so far this season, but Stanley “Boom” Williams is 7th in the SEC at 91.2 yards on the ground per game, and he’s posted three 100-yard games, including 16 carries for 113 yards and 2 touchdowns last week against Auburn.

As for Mississippi State, it’s yet to enjoy a 100-yard rushing game from anyone this season, and its leading rusher is its quarterback. Prescott leads the Bulldogs with a meager 36.3 yards per game. RB Ashton Shumpert is next at only 26.5 yards per game.

WIDE RECEIVERS, TIGHT END — Mississippi State: Kentucky and Mississippi State each have a pair of receivers that rank among the top 15 in the conference in receiving yards per game. For the Wildcats, that’s Garrett Johnson (6th at 73 yards per game) and Dorian Baker (15th at 57 YPG). For the Bulldogs, that’s De’Runnya Wilson (10th at 61.9 YPG) and Fred Ross (12th at 60.3 YPG). However, the Bulldogs have gotten a little bit more of a contribution outside of their first and second options from WR Fred Brown (16 catches, 250 receiving yards, TD) and TE Gus Walley (15 catches, 109 yards, TD).

Johnson has come to play in Kentucky’s last two games against SEC teams, combining for 15 catches, 279 receiving yards against Missouri and Auburn, which includes his 9 catches for 160 yards last week against Auburn last week. It obviously impressed Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, who had something to say to Johnson after the performance.

Ross is likely to play this week despite a head injury. Ross has stepped up in SEC play, recording 27 catches for 235 receiving yards in the three games against LSU, Auburn and Texas A&M.

OFFENSIVE LINE — Mississippi State: The Bulldogs have done a much better job of keeping Prescott off the turf. He’s only been sacked 9 times this season, tied for 5th-fewest in the SEC. Meanwhile, the Wildcats haven’t been nearly as good in pass protection, allowing Towles to go down 19 times in six games. That average of 3.2 sacks allowed per game is tied with Texas A&M for the highest rate in the league.

Neither team has found consistency running the ball with Mississippi State ranking 11th in the SEC in yards per game (141.9) and Kentucky right behind it at 12th in the SEC (135.5).

DEFENSIVE LINE — Mississippi State: While the Bulldogs have protected their QB better, they’ve also gotten to opposing quarterbacks better also. Mississippi State has 19.0 sacks on the season, which is tied for 4th-best in the SEC along with defensive stalwart Missouri. Kentucky has 11.0 sacks, which is tied for 9th.

The teams have performed pretty similar against the run as the Bulldogs are 9th in the SEC, and Kentucky is 10th. However, the Wildcats have allowed 5 more rushing TDs despite playing one fewer game.

LINEBACKERS — Mississippi State: Both teams are led by standout linebackers. Mississippi State is led by junior Richie Brown, who’s put up 61 tackles (4th-most in the SEC), 5.0 sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss and an interception. Kentucky is spearheaded by senior Josh Forrest, who has 58 tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and an interception, but he’s done more than Brown in terms of helping his back seven. Along with that interception, he has 6 pass defenses and 5 pass breakups. He’s also forced a fumble.

However, Brown has gotten more help from the rest of his linebacking corps. Beniquez Brown (48) and J.T. Gray (38) have helped with tackles and 4.0 tackles for loss between them. Gray recorded a team-high 10 tackles last week against Louisiana Tech, and he’ll likely see more playing time with the injury to Dez Harris.

SECONDARY — Even: As mentioned above, both teams have performed very comparably in several areas, and the trend continues here. Mississippi State ranks 7th in the SEC against the pass (206.9 yards allowed per game) and Kentucky is 8th (207.3). The Bulldogs have a total of 63 passes broken up and defended, while the Wildcats have 56. Considering UK has played one fewer game, those numbers are virtually identical.

Each team has gotten 3 interceptions from its secondary. Mississippi State senior Will Redmond has 2 with freshman Brandon Bryant adding the other. And Kentucky junior J.D. Harmon has 2 interceptions with freshman Chris Westry adding the third.