Mississippi State defense highlights another dismal day in loss to Kentucky
The Kentucky Wildcats only put up 17 points on Saturday on their way to a 24-3 victory over the Mississippi State Bulldogs on State’s homecoming night. While the defense showed up to play, the offense was, again, nonexistent.
Ray Davis, the bell-cow back for the Cats, came into the game averaging over six yards per carry. Tonight, he averaged 3.8. State also limited his big play ability, as Davis’s longest run on the night only went for 14 yards. What’s even more impressive, though, is that the MSU front seven kept him out of the end zone.
Mississippi State wasn’t even bad in pass coverage on the night, as Devin Leary finished with 13-22 for 126 yards. He did toss a pair of scores, but when you can shut the opposing team out of the end zone on the ground, those are numbers you can live with if you’re Matt Brock and company.
Jett Johnson, who finished with eight tackles and 2.5 TFL’s on the night, spoke about the defensive effort after the game.
“I think (we had some success) against him,” said Johnson. “That was obviously a huge area of emphasis this week. He’s averaging like seven yards per carry…he’s a great player. I feel like we stopped their run pretty well tonight.”
What Mississippi State can’t continue to live with, though, are the putrid offensive numbers the team has put up the past three games. Since losing Will Rogers to injury, MSU has scored 23 points over the course of three games.
The defensive players know that they’re not getting the help they need from the offensive side of the ball, and over time, that can grow frustrating. Just ask Shawn Preston, who finished his night with three solo tackles of his own en route to the best performance out of the MSU defensive backfield in a few games.
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“I don’t play games to lose,” said Preston after the loss. “Like I said we’ve got four games left on the year, the goal is 4-0. That’s it, plain and simple.”
Preston referenced the fact that if they win the next three, the fourth game will be a bowl game, which would keep MSU’s 13-year postseason streak alive.
When asked about the improvements the secondary has made over the last few weeks, Preston felt as though strides have been made in regards to the play of the defensive backfield as a whole.
“We don’t want to be the weakest link,” said Preston. “We want to carry out weight. We take pride in that. We hold that as a standard, so like I said, us doing our job, there’s always stuff we can improve on, but we’re definitely making strides.”
With the defense coming along, and Rogers itching to get back on the field, Mississippi State is going to have to attempt to piece together some improbable wins in order to keep that aforementioned streak in tact. If that is in fact the goal, the ball is in the offense’s court, especially if the defense keeps up the level of play they showed tonight.
