Kentucky Vs. Mississippi State: After Action Review

An After Action Review, or AAR for short, is a militaristic manner to evaluate a mission or task. KSR utilizes a similar method to analyze Kentucky’s 24-3 win at Mississippi State.   

B.L.U.F. (Bottom-Line-Up-Front)  

Kentucky beat Mississippi State 24-3 on Saturday night in Starkville to extend its record to 6-3 (3-3 SEC).  

SITUATION   

Kentucky entered the game with a 5-3 record and had lost three consecutive games to Georgia, Missouri, and Tennessee. Mississippi State was 4-4. The Bulldogs were without the services of multiple key starters.  

OFFENSE 

Saturday night’s win wasn’t pretty. It doesn’t matter. The offense did enough to secure the SEC West road win. In all, the ‘Cats totaled 271 yards off 54 snaps for a 5.3 yards-per-play average. The MSU defense was in desperation mode and executed an attacking strategy. The Kentucky offense found a way to manufacture 17 points which were plenty enough for the victory. The game’s flow was weird, especially in the second half. With State’s offensive struggles and quarterback Devin Leary’s situation, the ‘Cats weren’t exactly creative for much of the second half and cruised up 24-3.  

The story of the night, other than the much-needed win, was the apparent injury to Leary. The signal-caller was electric at times prior to his departure from the field. He completed 13 passes out of 22 attempts for 156 yards and two touchdowns. Leary escaped several would-be sacks and delivered strikes down the field. He also displayed the toughness and determination that will garner vast locker room respect. The quarterback stood tall, absorbed hits, and escaped the rush in order to make explosive downfield throws. Numbers won’t show it, but Leary battled. His play was encouraging.   

Running back Ray Davis was the frequent victim of tackles for loss. This most notably occurred on first down plays. The senior rushed 21 times for 80 yards for a 3.8 yards-per-carry average. The pass catchers enjoyed a second consecutive strong performance led by Tayvion Robinson’s five receptions for 91 yards. Dane Key added four catches for 36 including a touchdown catch. Barion Brown pitched in four catches for 24 more yards. Drops had plagued this trio — that was not the case on Saturday. The group also effectively blocked. Key was tremendous in this category.  

The offensive line allowed just one QB sack. Leary is to be credited for keeping that tally low through excellent pocket movement and awareness. The run game was never a point of strength but showed flashes in the Middle 8. UK averaged 3.8 yards per attempt and totaled 110 yards off 29 carries.  

The offense’s most encouraging result was that when it was presented with the opportunity for a “Kill Drive,” the ‘Cats pounced. This series occurred at the end of the first half. While leading 14-3 with the football on its own 37 and 4:46 left in the second quarter, UK marched down the field to MSU’s Red Zone. Leary found Key for a touchdown strike to extend the lead to 21-3 with 52 seconds remaining in the half. Ballgame. UK struggled with situational football and failed in similar scenarios in October. The Middle 8 touchdown drive spoke to the Wildcats’ resolve which was sparked by head coach Mark Stoops.

Let’s get into goals vs. results.   

Fast Start
Result: GO  

A quick three-and-out by the defense led to an opening drive that resulted in a touchdown. The series covered 62 yards and took four minutes off the clock.  

Continue Passing Game Growth
RESULT: NO-GO  

I gave UK a NO-GO on this objective because the goal was set at 250 passing yards. This should be adjusted to a GO based on the game’s circumstances such as Leary’s second-half absence and little need to throw once the contest was out of hand. I also could have given a GO based on the wide-outs catching passes and Leary’s accuracy.  

The QB’s 59% completion percentage wasn’t necessarily stellar. However, a portion of his incompletions were throwaways to avoid sacks. Additionally, some progressions led to 50/50 throws which could have gone either way. Football happens. Pass protection could have also been cleaner.  

DEFENSE 

Brad White’s defense was reeling after three horrendous October outings. Starkville offered an opportunity to get right and the ‘Cats took full advantage of the situation. Outside MSU’s 20-play, 88-yard drive that lasted 12:29, Kentucky forced the issue for the majority of the night and owned the line of scrimmage. That time-consuming State series highlighted the errors that hurt the ‘Cats in October such as missed tackles, 3^rd down struggles, and losing receivers in coverage. But, overall, improvements were evident in all three levels.  

Mississippi State totaled just 218 yards of offense off 66 snaps for a 3.3 yards-per-play average. Quarterback Mike Wright has history against UK and not the good kind. The ‘Cats held the mobile quarterback to 11/21 passing for 78 yards and one pick-6 to go along with 11 rushes for just 20 yards and a 1.8 yards-per-carry average. Ballgame.  

The Bulldogs rushed for 78 yards and threw for 145. UK created a vast amount of havoc by recording 7.5 tackles for loss and five quarterback sacks. D’Eryk Jackson’s pick-6 displayed a return to early-season form with an explosive defensive play for points. The defensive line was superb in gap integrity and not allowing Wright to escape the pocket.  

Trevin Wallace appeared to be healthy. This was on display on MSU’s first drive when the linebacker made a physical tackle on the sideline. He finished the night with nine tackles including 1.5 for loss and a QB sack. True freshman Ty Bryant followed an excellent outing against Tennessee last week with eight stops in Starkville. As mentioned above, the DL was timely and accurate in terms of gap and edge responsibilities.  

Let’s get into goals vs. results.  

Tackle
RESULT: GO  

This could have gone either way and be justified. There were multiple third-down situations when the ‘Cats missed tackles that would have gotten the defense off the field. The second half was much better.  I’ll give credit where credit is due, there was improvement which can be seen in the stat column.  

Get Off The Field 33
RESULT: NO-GO  

UK finished the night allowing 35% on the money down. It did not achieve the 33% mark which was set prior to the game but was close. This objective was not reached largely due to Miss State’s one scoring drive that covered 88 yards which contained multiple third down conversions. 

SPECIAL TEAMS 

The special teams were solid for the majority of the night. However, the punt team still has concerns. The ‘Cats averaged 37 yards per boot. It felt much less than that.  

Win The Field Position Game
RESULT: GO  

Pregame analysis gave Miss State a significant advantage in this category. Kentucky actually won this facet of the contest.  

OUTCOME 

It wasn’t pretty, but I’ll take it. Sometimes ugly wins mean the most. That was the case on Saturday night. Kentucky needed a win in the worst way. It went out and secured its sixth victory of the season after an awful October stretch that included three losses and an open date.  

Kentucky played intensely hard on Saturday night. Stoops had his team dialed in and hungry for an elusive SEC West road win. The ‘Cats showed resolve by getting off the mat and punching back in order to get the W. Again, was it pretty? Far from it, but a win is a win. This is especially applicable in road conference wins.  

UK is now 6-3 with three games to play. This team is what it is this late in the season. November often offers challenges. This season is different presenting one of the most difficult end-of-season stretches in the Stoops era. A road win in a place that UK hasn’t left victorious in six prior trips has to be considered an overriding success and necessary. Kentucky was the better team and won.  

It appears Leary suffered an eye injury of some sort in Starkville. I was thinking the worst after watching his face mask bounce off the turf. Blurry vision from something in his eye led to miscalled plays and clock problems. He had problems reading his play sheet on his wristband. If healthy, the score could have been more lopsided and we’d feel a little different about last night. I gained tremendous respect for Leary this weekend.  

Alabama comes to town on Saturday. The Wildcats are a two-score home underdog to Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide. This game looked and felt differently in the offseason. But, much like Saturday’s win over Mississippi State, it is what it is. Anything can happen, right?  

Kentucky earned bowl eligibility after securing its sixth win of the season. This happening was almost an afterthought on Sunday morning. Nothing is a given. But, I expect that to be an annual occurrence. Am I wrong? Yes. No.  

Eight consecutive postseason trips should be celebrated given the state of the program that Mark Stoops inherited. But, winning brings expectations. A bowl game is a starting point for this team. It’s now time to add to the quality of the postseason location with upcoming opportunities against a couple of Top-10 opponents and a tricky road trip to South Carolina.  

The ‘Cats are 6-3.