Mississippi State at Kentucky: SEC Football game preview, TV schedule

Mississippi State’s blazing offense goes into this game after scoring 40 points last week. Can Will Rogers light it up again? Kentucky goes into this game after losing at home against South Carolina. In what was a disappointing loss for the Wildcats, can they rebound with Will Levis potentially coming back?

Game Time: 7:30 P.M., October, 15, 2022

Location: Kroger Field

The Mississippi State Bulldogs go into this game with a record of 5-1. Their one loss came against LSU. While this team is ranked 16th in the AP Poll, they really haven’t been tested yet. Arkansas was their hardest opponent and they aren’t among the SEC’s best. While the Razorbacks do have three wins and beat Cincinnati, they weren’t exactly world-beaters going into this game against the Bulldogs.

This next four-week stretch will show what Mississippi State is made of. After their game against Kentucky, they play Bama and Georgia in alternating weeks. The Bulldogs’ offense is certainly explosive. Will Rogers leads the country in total passing yards.

He has thrown for 2,110 yards and 22 passing touchdowns. He is second in passing touchdowns in the country. The passing for Mississippi State is legit, but the question is can they do against a solid team?

Kentucky goes into this game with a little bit of a rough patch. They are coming off two straight losses. The first one came against Ole Miss in a game where the Wildcats’ offense had 3 turnovers. While the performance wasn’t good at least, it was against a good opponent. The next week, the Wildcats would lose to a much worse opponent.

Kentucky was not able to overcome a missing Will Levis in their loss to South Carolina. While the Wildcats were without starting QB Will Levis, the Gamecocks still overcame three turnovers and beat Kentucky.

This game is crucial for Kentucky to get back on track. Currently, Kentucky is 4-2 and 22nd in the AP Poll. While the SEC East is out of reach, Mark Stoops can reach similar heights as last year’s team (won 10 games and Citrus Bowl) if they can get back on track this week.

This game will be a battle of offenses. I am confident that Will Rogers will be able to unlock this Bulldogs’ offense once again and aim for around 30+ points. I am less confident about the Wildcats’ offense. A lot of this depends on if Will Levis is healthy and able to play this week.

Currently, Kentucky says Levis is day-to-day. While Chris Rodriguez Jr will have his moments, I just don’t trust this offense with how it looked against South Carolina. I will say that Rodriguez will probably have his best game yet because Mississippi State’s rushing defense isn’t that amazing. While they are 66th in rushing yards allowed in the country (which isn’t horrible), they aren’t exactly the best team at defending the run.

Prediction

Mississippi State: 35  Kentucky: 21

While I think that Kentucky’s defense will have its moments against the Bulldogs’ offense, I just don’t see how they stop this Rogers-led machine. I do think Chris Rodriguez will have his moments just because Mississippi State’s run defense isn’t that good. Even though Rodriguez hasn’t been amazing in his 2 games since the suspension, I still think he goes off this week.

I will say this game will be a lot more interesting if Levis was healthy. While I still think there is a shot that the NFL draft prospect will play this week, I don’t think he will be completely 100 percent healthy. If he was, this would be a really interesting game. The truth is he most likely will not and that means the Bulldogs will win minus a Hercules-type performance from Levis.