Postgame Notes from Kentucky's 31-17 loss at Mississippi State

How did Kentucky‘s 31-17 loss at Mississippi State come to fruition? UK Athletics compiled some facts and numbers to help tell the story.

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FINAL SCORE: Mississippi State 31, No. 12 Kentucky 17

Team Records and Series Information

• Kentucky is 6-2 overall, 4-2 in the Southeastern Conference. Mississippi State is 5-3 overall, 3-2 in the SEC.
• Mississippi State leads the series, 25-24. The home team has won the last seven meetings.
• Next for Kentucky: Kentucky returns home to play host to Tennessee on Saturday, Nov. 6. Game time is 7 p.m. and it will be telecast on ESPN2.

Coach Mark Stoops

• Coach Mark Stoops is now 55-52 at Kentucky.  After two games of the 2016 season, his record was 12-26 but has gone 43-26 (.623) since.
• Stoops extended his school record for total games coached at UK (107).
• Coach Stoops is in his ninth season as head coach of the Wildcats, tying Fran Curci (1973-81) for most seasons as head coach at UK.

Player Notes

• Junior quarterback Will Levis completed 17 of 28 passes for 150 yards and one touchdown.
• Junior running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. led the Wildcat rushing with eight carries for 34 yards.
  • He has 2,170 career rushing yards, remains in ninth place in school history.
• Junior running back Kavosiey Smoke rushed eight times for 19 yards.
  • He has 1,186 career rushing yards, 33^rd place on the UK career rushing list.
• Junior wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson caught nine passes for 79 yards. He caught 12 passes in the previous game at Georgia.
  • First Wildcat to catch at least nine passes in two games in the same season since La’Rod King in 2012.
  • He is the first Wildcat to catch at least nine passes in two SEC road games in the same season since Randall Cobb in 2010.
  • He’s the first Wildcat to catch at least nine passes in consecutive games since Keenan Burton in 2006.
  • He is the first Wildcat to catch at least nine passes in consecutive SEC games since James Whalen in 1999.
• After having missed the last two games because of injury, senior wide receiver Josh Ali got the scoring started with a 74-yard punt return for a touchdown following MSU’s first possession.
  • It was Ali’s first punt return TD of his career and UK’s first since Lynn Bowden Jr.’s 58-yard scoring jaunt on Jan. 1, 2019 in the Citrus Bowl vs. Penn State.
  • It is UK’s longest punt return since Rafael Little’s 84-yard return vs. Louisiana-Monroe in 2006.
  • It is UK’s longest punt return in an SEC road game since Derek Abney’s 86-yard return in 2002 in Arkansas.
  • He also caught two passes for nine yards and has 1,103 receiving yards in his career.
• Sophomore wide receiver DeMarcus Harris caught two passes for 30 yards, including his first collegiate touchdown, a 17-yarder early in the fourth quarter. 
• Senior linebacker Jacquez Jones had a career-high 18 tackles.
• Senior defensive end Josh Paschal had six tackles, including two for loss.
  • He has 32 tackles for loss in his career.
• Senior linebacker DeAndre Square made 12 tackles, including one for loss.
• Senior safety Yusuf Corker had 11 tackles and a pass breakup.
• Sophomore safety Vito Tisdale had his first career sack and first career pass breakup. He finished with five tackles.
• Sophomore noseguard Josaih Hayes made his first collegiate sack. He finished with four tackles.
• Senior punter Colin Goodfellow kicked three times for a 53.7-yard average. 
  • For the second game in a row he had a career-long 70 yarder, becoming the first player in school history to have two punts of at least 70 yards during his career.
  • He entered the game leading the SEC with a 46.7-yard average.
• True freshman Trevin Wallace made his first collegiate start at outside linebacker and had a career-high 12 tackles.
• Game captains for today were Josh Paschal, DeAndre Square, Will Levis and Luke Fortner.