MSU faces Kentucky amid a bit of bad blood

STARKVILLE – There shouldn’t be need for extra motivation when the No. 14 Mississippi State Bulldogs travel to take on Kentucky in Lexington at 6 p.m. CT Saturday night. It’s the first SEC game of the year for MSU, and the Wildcats are looking to extend their hot start on home turf.

Kentucky junior running back Benny Snell Jr., though, gave the Dogs (3-0) a reason to want this one a little more. After UK (3-0, 1-0 SEC East) beat Murray State 48-10 last week, Snell said he feels like he can “run on any team.” He added that he doesn’t fear any opposing defenses.

Enter Mississippi State’s vaunted front seven, regarded as arguably the best defensive front in the nation.

The Dogs’ defense has only allowed 85 rushing yards per game this season, sparking MSU’s sophomore running back Kylin Hill to respond to Snell’s comments on Twitter with 41 consecutive ‘cryinglaughing’ emojis.

Kentucky offensive lineman Drake Jackson was asked about Hill later in the week. His response: “Does he play for Mississippi State?” Hill responded to that one, on Twitter once again, with one burning flame emjoi. Fuel for the fire. State head coach Joe Moorhead didn’t elaborate directly on the extracurricular comments, but he knows the Wildcats will have a lot of energy playing at Kroger Field. Few expected an undefeated showdown between these two teams.

“Their mindset is toughness, physicality, aggressiveness and explosiveness, and right now, they're playing with a ton of confidence,” Moorhead said. “Certainly, they are a huge challenge.”

The test for State's defense is containing both Snell and sophomore quarterback Terry Wilson, a transfer from the University of Oregon. They’ve combined to rush for 199.3 yards per game this year.

Mississippi State counters with a defense that has the second most tackles for loss in the FBS (33). Junior defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons and senior defensive end lead the team in TFL with 5.5 each. Those two unsurprisingly topped the Bulldogs in that category a season ago when Sweat had 15.5 and Simmons trailed with 12.

“It’s a blessing because if I’m getting doubleteamed, somebody else is free,” Simmons said. “If Sweat is getting double-teamed, I’m free. That just helps us out as a team and a defensive front. Somebody is going to be free.”

Racking up more negative plays is certainly a recipe for success against Kentucky. So is forcing turnovers, yet the only takeaways Mississippi State's defense has forced are single interceptions in each of the first three games.

Kentucky has turned it over six times this year, and the Wildcats are lucky the number isn’t higher. The team has fumbled eight times and has recovered five. MSU defensive coordinator Bob Shoop said Kentucky has a few “known offenders,” a term he uses to describe players the Dogs should target for ball security issues.

Wilson must be one of them. He’s fumbled three times, losing two. He’s also thrown three interceptions.