The Mississippi State Bulldogs moved smoothly through non-conference play, but now they dive into SEC competition against the Kentucky Wildcats. Kentucky deserves respect.
By Matt Zemek
Mark Stoops’ team kicked Florida up and down the field in The Swamp. Even though Florida is rebuilding, it is still an enormous feat for Kentucky to beat Florida. Everyone in college football knew that UK had not beaten the Gators since 1986. Kentucky should get Mississippi State’s full attention, especially in a road game for the Bulldogs.
What should give MSU fans confidence and encouragement heading into this game is the Bulldogs’ win over Kansas State. A non-conference road game played during brunch hour was no sure thing – observers were waiting to see if new coach Joe Moorhead and new quarterback Nick Fitzgerald would mesh well. They did. They did what other new coach-QB combinations – Willie Taggart and Deondre Francois at Florida State, or Kevin Sumlin and Khalil Tate at Arizona – have manifestly failed to do this season. Playing a strong, consistent road game against a credible opponent is something MSU has already done this season. Now the team just has to replicate the pattern in Lexington.
1 – STOP THE RUN
The old-time football religion still applies sometimes, even though much of college football has been increasingly defined by spread passing offenses and field-stretching concepts in recent years. Kentucky rushed for over 300 yards in its win at Florida. Kentucky didn’t score a ton in that game, but it controlled the ball and field position. Mississippi State has a much better offense than Florida, but the value of ball control remains significant, and in fact, might even increase for Kentucky in this game. The Wildcats want to keep Fitzgerald off the field. MSU needs to prevent that from happening. Stuffing the run will open the gateway for everything else the Bulldogs want to achieve in this game. This is the central tension point.
2 – DOMINATE THE FIRST QUARTER
The Florida offense Kentucky controlled a few weeks ago is uncertain, hesitant, and relatively impotent. It does not strike fear into good defenses. Kentucky’s defense played well against Florida, but it did not face elite opposition.
Road teams in the SEC cannot expect easy nights at the office. Naturally, MSU has to be ready to fight for 60 minutes. However, Fitzgerald is no Feleipe Franks. He is actually good. He is actually in command of the field he surveys on each play. If MSU can produce two strong scoring drives to start the game and make Kentucky’s defense realize how much of a chore it will be to defend every blade of grass on the playing field, the Cats might retreat. Mississippi State needs to show Kentucky early on that this is not Florida. This is something much tougher to handle.
3 – PERCENTAGE FOOTBALL IN THE SECONDARY
Elsewhere in the SEC, we saw in Week 3 how a deficient secondary can lose a game. Auburn’s secondary came up very small against LSU, committing loads of interference penalties – some questionable, but the majority of them clear-cut penalties. Auburn defenders also traced the wrong paths to both the ball and to intended receivers, sometimes gambling for interceptions that led to big plays for LSU. MSU can’t give away first downs to Kentucky.
Be the first to comment