LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Kentucky entered Saturday's game against Mississippi State with its defensive pride battered and bruised coming off a 42-41 loss to Ole Miss a week ago.
The Wildcats were one of only four teams nationally which had failed to force a turnover on the season, so trepidation was high as Mike Leach was making his return to Lexington with the "Air Raid" offense.
It was perfect timing for one of the best defensive performances of the Mark Stoops era as Kentucky held the nation's No. 7 offensive unit to 221 yards under its season average and forced six turnovers in a resounding 24-2 victory at Kroger Field.
Kentucky (1-2) intercepted six passes, turning one into a pick-6 touchdown and returning another to set up a short touchdown run for the offense. Two of the takeaways came near the goal line as the Bulldogs were threatening to score.
It marked the first time in Leach's head coaching career that his team had been held without an offensive score.
"We all knew the first two games were not up to our standard," said UK junior linebacker Jamin Davis, who led the Cats with 11 tackles and recorded one of the six interceptions. "... We came out tonight to make a statement."
Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops said his defensive unit had been stewing over its subpar performance to date all week. There was a different level of focus and attention to detail in practice this week.
"When technique and opportunity meet, you have an opportunity to make plays," he said.
In addition to Davis, UK got interceptions from linebacker Jordan Wright, linebacker Jamar "Boogie" Watson, linebacker D'Eryk Jackson, defensive end Josh Paschal, and cornerback Kelvin Joseph.
Their effort helped hold Mississippi State (1-2) to only 275 yards through the air. The Bulldogs had posted 623 in a stunning win at LSU to open the season and 313 last week against Arkansas.
Kentucky struggled offensively, managing only 157 total yards, but the Cats committed only one turnover and cashed in on all three of their red-zone opportunities, including a 12-yard touchdown pass from Terry Wilson to Keaton Upshaw in the second quarter.
Mississippi State went 0-for-3 in the red zone and missed a long field goal early in the game. Starting quarterback K.J. Costello completed 36 of 55 passes for 232 yards but was picked off four times. Backup quarterback Will Rogers was intercepted twice.
The Bulldogs were held to just 20 yards rushing.
Asked if he had any idea why his offense performed so poorly, Leach said: “I have a lot of ideas. The biggest one is the University of Kentucky. The second biggest one is that we didn’t play together at all... You can really say all phases."
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In this Cats Illustrated "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK victory…
THE GOOD:
Kentucky's defense played to its preseason press clippings. This was the aggressive, opportunistic unit that Big Blue Nation expected to see from the get-go. This has to be a big confidence boost for the Cats as they move forward in a league where not a great deal of impressive defense is currently being played.
THE BAD:
As good as the UK defense was, the offense was almost equally bad. You have to give partial credit to Mississippi State, which entered the game ranked in the Top 20 nationally on that side of the ball, but no one expected the Cats to get shut down to this extent. It was a big step backward after the unit played so well last week in racking up 559 yards of total offense against Ole Miss.
THE UGLY:
After Chris Rodriguez scored to put UK ahead 14-0 with 3:48 left in the second quarter, the Cats would gain only 35 additional yards the rest of the night.
GAME BALL:
Kentucky Defense -- It's hard to single out one guy when the whole unit played so well, so we'll make an exception to the rule and hand out multiple game balls. If you pressed me for one guy, I'd probably go with linebacker Jamin Davis. Throw the incredible Max Duffy in there as well for his punting contribution to what the defense accomplished.
BY THE NUMBERS:
1st - Time the Cats have held an SEC opponent without an offensive score since a 25-0 shutout of Vanderbilt on Nov. 16, 1996.
2nd - Most interceptions ever in a game by the Wildcats. UK had seven against Florida on Sept. 11, 1993.
3-17 - The Bulldogs' offense on 3rd-down conversions.
7 - Of UK's 14 possessions on the night ended with three plays or less.
15 - Receptions for MSU running back Kylin Hill.
24-2 - Only final score of its kind in UK program history.
24-24 - The all-time series record between UK and MSU is even once again after the Cats' win.
33 - Wins for Mark Stoops at Kroger Field/Commonwealth Stadium, passing Jerry Claiborne for No. 1 on the all-time list.
53 - Offensive snaps for UK. The Cats ran 31 fewer plays on the night than MSU.
2003 - The last time UK had a bigger margin of victory against MSU, winning 42-17.
QUOTABLE:
"Amazing, really." -- Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops on punter Max Duffy, who punted eight times for a 44.9 average with three of 50-plus yards and three pinned inside the MSU 20-yard line. His biggest moment, however, may have been after booming a 78-yard free kick after the Bulldogs recorded their safety in the third quarter.
UP NEXT:
Kentucky returns to action next week at Tennessee. The Vols (2-1) lost 44-21 today at Georgia.
