Kentucky's defense has to slow down a Mississippi State offense that is outscoring opponents 66-7 in the first quarter. (Vicky Graff Photo)
In Kentucky’s first five games, the Wildcats allowed only 15 points total in the second half. In last week’s loss to South Carolina, Kentucky gave up 17 points in the second half to the Gamecocks.
“We’ve got to put a full game together. Football’s not just 30 minutes, it’s not 45, it’s 60,” said Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White. “What we need is to come out fast and then stay strong throughout, that’s what we have to do.”
Kentucky hosts Mississippi State Saturday night and the Bulldogs might have the most complete offense the Cats have faced. State has scored 39 or more points in five of six games and rank 10th in the nation in offensive touchdown rate (.453) and 14th in offensive drive efficiency (scoring value gained or lost per offensive drive) at 1.15.
Quarterback Will Rogers has completed a SEC record 946 passes in 28 games and has thrown for 300-plus yards and at least three touchdowns in 14 of 28 games he has played.
Mississippi State’s receivers lead the nation in yards after catch for the second straight season. Six Mississippi State receivers have caught at least 20 passes and Jo’quavious Marks has a catch in 29 straight games.
Running back Dillon Johnson has 168 yards and three touchdowns on 31 carries the last two games. As a team, the Bulldogs have had 19 runs of 10-plus yards.
Despite the second-half collapse against South Carolina, the Cats have allowed 24 or fewer points in every game and have held every opponent under 400 yards.
However, none of that matters to White after his unit’s second-half issues last week.
“It wasn’t good enough. I thought the guys competed in the first half, not that they didn’t compete in the second half, but it wasn’t our standard,” White said. “There were too many plays in there, missed tackles was a big issue.”
“Some of the run fits that we haven’t missed… from the perimeter we have to be better there, we had a couple of missed opportunities in that second half.”
White said it was a lot of “little things” that added up to big issues for the Kentucky defense.
“Little errors can get magnified because it trickles over to somebody else’s job and the way that the system and the scheme is designed,” White said. “I think some guys try to do too much in certain opportunities.”
“If you try to do too much, you get exposed in big plays. We’ve got to play better, crisper.”
