MacGinnis the hero as Kentucky survives thriller against Mississippi State

LEXINGTON, Ky.— As Mark Stoops talked to the media after Kentucky’s thrilling 40-38 win over Mississippi State on Saturday night, a television mounted on the wall cycled through various slides.

One image read “You have to have a contingency plan for adversity because you’re going to face it, period! Your only choice is how you respond to it.”

Kentucky learned a lot about itself over the last 60 minutes. The Wildcats trailed by double-digits, then led by double-digits, and then found themselves down one with three seconds left to play.

How it reached that point was brutally frustrating. The Wildcats led 34-24 with under 10 minutes left to play and appeared to be putting the game on ice. They had the ball inside the 10 yard line and looked to finish off the Bulldogs, but a fumble by quarterback Stephen Johnson was returned 81-yards for a touchdown.

Kentucky led 37-31 when the Bulldogs’ next drive started. It was full of so many examples where Kentucky has folded over the years. Mississippi State drove inside of Kentucky’s 30 yard line before a holding penalty set the Bulldogs back.

But on 3rd and 11, Kentucky cornerback Chris Westry was called for a pass interference, giving the Bulldogs a first down at the 11 yard line. On second down Blake McClain dropped an interception in the end zone. On third down, Nick Fitzgerald completed a seven-yard touchdown pass to Fred Ross to give Mississippi State the lead and silence the fans inside of Commonwealth Stadium.

One last twist of the knife looked to take place on Kentucky’s final drive. Johnson stepped up in the pocket and heaved a pass for Dorian Baker in the end zone. Baker had a one-on-one matchup and got his hands on the ball but it fell incomplete.

Johnson found Jeff Badet for 18 yards to set up a 50-yard field goal try by Austin MacGinnis. The junior kicker -- who battled injuries all last season -- stepped up and drilled the game-winner.

“I've been telling you guys that I felt like Austin was getting real close to being an elite kicker, getting back to like he is,” Stoops said. “I had a lot of confidence with him in that last kick, I did. I was good with it either way because I felt like our team, our players played their hearts out.”

Stoops has preached a culture change capable of fighting back when punched in the mouth. So many times Kentucky has failed to respond over the last three years. But on this night the Wildcats fought through and finished the game.

“I’ll be the first one to tell you we’ve come a long way,” sophomore linebacker Jordan Jones said. “At the beginning of the season, last year, even the year before that people would just give up when we were down. But today and the past few weeks we’ve been proving everyone wrong. We’ve been fighting."

QUOTABLE

“It’s unbelievable. The emotions were so high, we were running over there across the field, forgetting everything else, we won, we’re happy. Ecstatic.” - safety Marcus McWilson

“I'm from Youngstown, Ohio. We don't flinch.” - head coach Mark Stoops

WHAT’S NEXT

Kentucky: The Wildcats travel to Missouri to take on a team that lost to Middle Tennessee State on Saturday. A win would would almost certainly give the Wildcats a bowl berth with Austin Peay still left on the schedule.

Mississippi State: The Bulldogs, now 2-5, will host Samford next weekend.