Mississippi State vs Kentucky: Looking Into the All-Time Series
It was a bounceback weekend for Mississippi State football (4-3) as the Bulldogs managed to stay on the right side of the win column on Saturday with a 45-6 blowout win over the Vanderbilt Commodores on the road.
Now, the Bulldogs return home to face No. 12-ranked Kentucky (6-1) a team that's dropped just one game this season -- to the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs, losing 30-13 in Sanford Stadium on Oct. 16. That's the smallest margin of victory that the 7-0 Bulldogs have recorded this season, and says a lot about the improvement of the team that MSU is about to go up against Saturday.
Looking at where the all-time series stands between MSU and Kentucky, the Bulldogs and the Wildcats are perfectly tied -- the overall record stands at 24-24, without a tie game on record.
Kentucky got the last win in the most recent meeting between the two squads, recording a 24-2 victory over the Bulldogs at Kroger Field on Oct. 10, 2020. It was a dismal game for the Bulldogs, as graduate transfer quarterback KJ Costello completed 36-of-55 passes for 232 yards with zero touchdowns and four interceptions, benched in favor of then-true freshman signal-caller Will Rogers, who completed 9-of-15 passes for 43 yards with zero touchdowns and two interceptions.
Things weren't any better on the ground, as running back Kylin Hill carried the ball seven times for just 17 yards.
Kentucky wasn't especially phenomenal on offense either, as quarterback Terry Wilson Jr. completed just 8-of-20 passes for 73 yards with one touchdown. He was also the team's leading rusher with 13 carries for 50 yards, though running back Chris Rodriguez was the only ball carrier to get a score on the ground, carrying seven times for 38 yards with one score.
The last time the Bulldogs beat the Wildcats was on Sept. 21, 2019 when MSU bested UK, 28-13 in Starkville.
The Bulldogs' success was found on the ground and not in the air on that one, as MSU quarterback Garrett Shrader completed 17-of-22 passes for 180 yards with zero touchdowns and one interception, carrying the ball 11 times for 125 yards. Hill owned the end zone in that one, carrying 26 times for 120 yards with three touchdowns.
Currently, MSU's largest margin of victory in history over Kentucky is by 40 points -- the Bulldogs defeated the Wildcats 47-7 in 1994. MSU's longest win streak over Kentucky is seven games (2009-2015).
Kentucky's biggest win over MSU came in 1973, when the Wildcats took down the Bulldogs, 42-14. Their longest win streak over MSU is eight games (1958-1990).
It will be interesting to see how things shake out with both teams, who look very much improved from last year, on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. CT on Oct. 30 on the Bulldogs' turf.
