Inside the numbers: Mississippi State-Kentucky first half stats
Mississippi State and Kentucky have reached halftime at Davis Wade Stadium and the visiting Wildcats hold a 21-3 advantage.
After forcing State into a 3 and on the game’s first series, Kentucky quickly got on the scoreboard with an eight-play, 62-yard drive. Devin Leary jumpstarted the drive with a 37-yard pass to Tayvion Robinson and then capped off the drive with a four-yard scoring toss to Demie Sumo-Karngbaye, giving the Cats a 7-0 lead with 10:11 left in the first quarter.
Mississippi State got on the board midway through the second quarter. The Bulldogs burned 12:29 off the clock and marched 88 yards on 20 plays. But the Bulldogs had to settle for a Kyle Ferrie 25-yard field goal and trailed 7-3 with 8:51 left in the half.
Kentucky extended its lead later in the half thanks to the Wildcat defense. Kentucky linebacker D’Eryk Jackson picked off Mississippi State’s Mike Wright and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown, giving the Wildcats a 14-3 advantage with 6:35 remaining in the opening half.
The Wildcats closed out the first-half scoring thanks to Leary’s second touchdown pass of the opening half. Leary connected with Dane Key from four yards out as the Wildcats increased their lead to 21-3 with 52 seconds left in the half.
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Kentucky had 159 yards of offense in the first half with 101 in the passing game. The Wildcats were 3 of 5 on third-down conversions and had two penalties for 20 yards. Mississippi State had 125 yards of offense with 71 through the air. The Bulldogs were 4 of 9 on third down and had four penalties for 29 yards.
Mississippi State had the ball for 17:36 of the first half compared to Kentucky at 12:24.
Individually, Kentucky quarterback Devin Leary was 9 of 14 passing for 101 yards with two touchdowns. Ray Davis led the ground game with eight carries for 29 yards while Dane Key had three catches for 25 yards and one touchdown.
For Mississippi State, Mike Wright was 9 of 17 passing for 71 yards with one interception. Wright also had 20 yards rushing in the first half while Zavion Thomas had three catches for 28 yards to pace State.
