Lenxington, Ky. (LEX 18) — When Mississippi State comes to town on Saturday, the Bulldog offense is sure to give a give Kentucky’s defense a challenge.
The Bulldogs, who are averaging 50 points per game through the first three weeks, have numerous weapons on offense that could give the Wildcats trouble.
“A lot of challenges. They got a really good quarterback, running back, offensive line, receivers, tight ends, you name it,” said UK Linebacker Kash Daniel. “They got really good players all around. It’s all about how focused we are, how gap sound we are and how good we tackle.”
All of those things will need to be better this year, as Kentucky is coming off of a 45-7 loss to the Bulldogs last season, as Mississippi State has won 8 of the last 9 meetings.
A silver lining with that statistic is that Kentucky last won in 2016 at Kroger Field 40-38.
“This is a good to game to show us that we did get better from last year, at every position,” said UK Linebacker Josh Allen. “We know they have a really good run game so if we can stop them we got it.”
The running game is the strong point for the Mississippi State offense. They have veteran quarterback Nick Fitzgerald, who relies mostly on his legs than his arm.
Through the first three weeks of the season, Fitzgerald has the least completions in the SEC, completing 25 of 48 passes.
Fitzgerald is also sixth in the conference in rushing yards and averages nearly 8 yards per carry. He also has 4 rushing touchdowns.
He’s not the only running threat for the Bulldogs.
Running Back Kylin Hill is fifth in the SEC in rushing yards with 266, and is averaging over 9 yards per carry.
Kentucky and Mississippi State are scheduled to kick off at 7pm Saturday at Kroger Field.
