Kentucky vs. Mississippi State Game Thread

The Kentucky Wildcats face their biggest challenge of the season to this point as they take on the #14 ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs. The game will be at Commonwealth Stadium and kickoff is set for 7:00 PM EST on ESPN2. You can also watch the game online using WatchESPN.

This is a monumental game for Kentucky in the Stoops era. If the Cats can pull this off, it will put them in the top 25 polls next week for the first timer Stoops. Also, this would give the team some big time national coverage.

With that being said, this is no easy task. The Bulldogs of Mississippi State are a tough group that is lethal on defense and has a true dual threat quarterback in Nick Fitzgerald.

Nick has torched Kentucky over the past two years, but especially last season. He ended with 3 total touchdowns (2 on the ground and 1 through the air) and racked up 270 yards (115 on the ground and 155 through the air) as he lead the Bulldogs to a 45-7 victory over the Cats.

The key to this game will be the ability to stop Nick Fitzgerald. The Cats did a better job of that in 2016, even though Fitzgerald still had 188 all-purpose yards to go with 3 touchdowns, when they were able to pull off the last-second victory at home by a score of 40-38. With the Bulldogs in a new system under a new coach, Kentucky has a good chance to pull out the victory.

Pregame reading

• Kentucky vs. Mississippi State: Game time, TV schedule, online stream, weather and more
• Kentucky defense previews Mississippi St. Bulldogs
• Lynn Bowden has a request for Kentucky vs. Mississippi State
• Benny Snell has strong response to Kylin Hill
• Mark Stoops previews Mississippi State, talks Terry Wilson, injuries and more
• A key Bulldogs DB is out for Saturday’s game vs. Kentucky
• Kentucky vs. Mississippi State Rosters and Depth Charts
• Kentucky vs. Mississippi State: Odds, Analysis, Expert Picks and Predictions