Kentucky was handed their second loss of the season over the weekend to a Mississippi
State team who played a near perfect game. The game was overall a mess for the Cats with fumbles
and interceptions coming left and right throughout the game. Despite losing to an unranked team, the AP poll was pretty generous to the Cats and only dropped them from 12th to 18th in the
rankings. The off week seemed to have not been very helpful for the team. The issues we have seen all season with ball security were not solved. Hopefully, this loss will spark a major fire under the team for the remainder of the season.
To start, Will Levis has his most horrendous performance so far in the season. Levis
passed 28 times and completed 17 of those for 150 yards. To add, he only had one touchdown
pass to DeMarcus Harris and threw for THREE interceptions. Levis has been prone to turnovers
through the season so far. He has passed for 14 touchdowns this season but has a whopping
nine interceptions through eight games. Chris Rodriguez Jr. has had a great season, but he and
Levis may need to be nicknamed the Turnover Twins. Rodriguez Jr. has been a fumble machine
through the season. Against Mississippi State, he had three fumbles but he recovered one and the other one he was already down. This is concerning because he seems to not be protecting the
ball any better after the fumbles. He only rushed eight times for 34 rushing yards. Only five of
his rushes resulted in non-fumbles. If the Cats want to win the rest of their games, these two guys
must step their game up and be smart with the ball. Our other touchdown of the game came from
a punt return from Josh Ali in his first game back from being out. This was the first score, so it
looked to be good for the Cats, but unfortunately, we did not use that momentum.
The defense had a very rough game against the Bulldogs, which was unexpected based on how
they’ve played this season. Will Rodgers shredded the secondary. Rodgers completed 36 of his 39 for a completion percentage of 92%, a touchdown, and 344 yards. Despite giving up 31 points to Mississippi State I’m not overly concerned with the defense. The defense did have four players with 10+ tackles for
the game though. Jacquez Jones led the team with 18 total tackles, star freshman Trevin Wallace
had 12, Deandre Square also with 12, and Yusuf Corker with 11. Josaih Hayes and Vito Tisdale
both got a sack a piece for the game as well. The defense was not a major problem, but we have to figure something out on offense.
The Cats will be looking to get back in the right track next weekend against the
Tennessee Volunteers in the last SEC game in Kroger field for the season. The fans need to be
ready and wild for the game to help put a spark back into the team. The Vols have improved
through the season with a great offense, but shaky defense. Cats open as a 2.5-point favorite for
this game. Let’s hope Kentucky ends their love affair with turnovers. A 10-2 season is within
our grasps, but it’s on the team to take their game to the next level. It’s time to regroup, GO
CATS!
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Devin Hall is a columnist for MESPORTS digital. A University Louisville graduate who loves good music, good games and good times. He can be reached at DHall@maineventsports101.com. Follow him on Twitter @Mista_Hall25