Miss State QB Will Rogers to put name in portal, Kentucky named potential destination

Could Mississippi State’s quarterback find himself in Lexington next season?

Less than 12 hours after the Bulldogs’ season came to an end (5-7; 1-7 SEC) on Thursday night in a 17-7 loss to No. 12 Ole Miss, multiple reports indicated that starting quarterback Will Rogers plans to put his name in the transfer portal. Soon after, KSR’s Matt Jones revealed that Kentucky could be the landing spot for Rogers.

“Lots of people in and around Starkville believe Lexington is a likely destination,” Jones wrote, before adding that while he hasn’t heard Rogers is “the guy” from anyone at UK, that has been the assumption on Mississippi State’s side for weeks now.

Lots of people in and around Starkville believe Lexington is a likely destination https://t.co/hHc0WZy0vQ

— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) November 24, 2023

Just for the record, I haven’t heard Will Rogers is the guy from any Kentucky folks.

But I have had Miss State people tell me for weeks that is the assumption there

UK will definitely take a transfer QB assuming Leary doesn’t return.

— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) November 24, 2023

Rogers has been the Mississippi State starting quarterback since he was a freshman back in 2020. Across four seasons in Starkville, the Mississippi native played in 43 games for the Bulldogs including 40 starts. He’ll finish his time there with 12,315 passing yards (second-most all-time in the Southeastern Conference) with 94 touchdowns to 28 interceptions. Rogers has one year of college eligibility remaining due to the shortened COVID-19 season in 2020.

His streak of 38 consecutive games as a starter came to an end earlier this season. Rogers sat out four games for Mississippi State due to injury, including the Bulldogs’ 24-3 loss to UK, before returning to play out the final two games of the regular season against Southern Miss and Ole Miss.

In three games against Kentucky throughout his career, Rogers is 1-2 against the ‘Cats. His best outing came in 2021 when he threw for 344 yards (36-39 passing) with one touchdown and zero interceptions in a 31-17 victory.

Kentucky’s current quarterback, super senior Devin Leary, could apply for an extra year of eligibility and return to UK for another season, although he said earlier this week he hasn’t “looked into any of that” just yet and that his focus is on the Wildcats’ final regular season game against Louisville and the postseason bowl game. Leary went through Senior Day ceremonies ahead of the game against Alabama.