On Saturday, Mississippi State University defeated Kentucky 17-14 in a game that went back and forth throughout. With the win, the Bulldogs put an end to their five-game losing streak and improved their record to 2-5, 1-4 in conference play.
The running game for each team was the major difference. Mississippi State rushed for 223 yards while the Wildcats were held to 2 yards rushing for the game.
Senior tailback Dicenzo Miller, who has been battling injury for much of the season, powered his way for 131 yards on 26 carries.
“(Miller) gets ready to play, and he plays with a lot of intensity and a lot of heart,” MSU head coach Jackie Sherrill said.
Another important piece in the Bulldogs’ winning formula was backup quarterback Kevin Fant’s ability to lead the team in the second half.
Fant entered the game in place of Madkin with just over seven minutes remaining in the first half, but he returned to the sidelines after going 3-and-out in his first possession.
When the second half began, Fant took the field for good with his work cut out for him with a 7-0 deficit to overcome.
“(Assistant) coach Woods said to just come in the second half and try to be high energy, and that’s what I tried to do,” Fant said. “When you’re a backup quarterback, you just wait for your chances to help the team. I just wait for my chance to get in there.”
Fant capitalized on his opportunity, throwing 9 passes in the second half and completing 6 of them for 120 yards and a touchdown.
The bulk of Fant’s passing success was shared with sophomore receiver Justin Jenkins.
Fant found Jenkins in the endzone for a 9-yard touchdown, Mississippi State’s first score of the afternoon.
“We’ve worked on that play for four weeks now, and we finally got a chance to run it,” Jenkins said, referring to the touchdown. “When coach called it, my eyes got big, and Kevin said, ‘It’s time.'”
Kentucky answered that touchdown late in the third quarter with a 38-yard touchdown completion to go up 14-7, but Fant was not done.
After John Michael Marlin’s field goal cut Kentucky’s lead to four, Fant threw deep to Jenkins. The throw resulted in a 76-yard gain and led to a 1-yard touchdown run by Dontae Walker.
With that score, capped by the extra point, the Bulldogs went up by a score of 17-14, which would be the final score of the game.
The Wildcats threatened late in the game, but they failed to score again, thanks to wise clock-management and high-pressure MSU defense, the same defense that had been put on Kentucky quarterback Jared Lorenzen all day.
Lorenzen, a 230-pound sophomore, threw for 320 yards and two touchdowns, but he was sacked five times and threw two interceptions in the process.
“Coach (Joe Lee) Dunn (defensive coordinator) had a good scheme for us. We were going to blitz him (Lorenzen) a lot. He hates to get sacked, so we were going to pressure him,” senior Shawn Byrdsong said. “He’s a good athlete and a good quarterback, but we pressured him a lot, and we came out on top.”
Lorenzen’s two interceptions both came in the second quarter, courtesy of T.J. Mawhinney and Korey Banks.
Mawhinney, a sophomore linebacker, spoke about his interception.
“We were on a blitz,” Mawhinney said. “He just threw right to me. I happened to be in the right place at the right time.”
The Bulldogs will need to play tight defense again next week in Tuscaloosa, Ala., as they take on the Crimson Tide and attempt to win a road game for the first time this season.