Mississippi State Survives Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. (MSU Athletics) – In its first game as the No. 1 team in the country, Mississippi State (7-0, 4-0 SEC) survived a back-and-forth game with Kentucky (5-3, 2-3), beating the Wildcats in Lexington 45-31.

MSU struck first, gaining a lead it never lost on its first possession, but the ‘Cats fought back as the two teams went back and forth throughout the game, the outcome finally being sealed by senior linebacker Christian Holmes’ onside kick return for a touchdown near the end of the game.

Junior running back Josh Robinson led the way for MSU, racking up 198 yards on the ground (as well as 11 through the air) and two touchdowns. With the performance, Robinson is now over 1,000 all-purpose yards for the season.

“He was carrying our team on his back, and sometimes carrying their team on his back,” Dan Mullen joked after the game.

On 23 carries, Robinson averaged 8.6 yards per rush, continuing to build on a string of impressive performances throughout the season. At 198 yards tonight, he gained one yard more than his previous high of 197 earlier this season against LSU.

“I was telling Coach Mullen on the sideline to let me go in when we were in the victory formation,” Robinson said. “I thought about just telling Dak to step out of the way and let me take the snap and get two yards so I could break 200.”

The joking attitude and the accompanying confidence are a big part of what makes Robinson so successful (as well as his low center of gravity), but it was also the part of his game he had to learn to control.

Mullen said it wasn’t until this summer that Robinson truly earned the trust of teammates and coaches.

“How he trained in the offseason,” Mullen said, “he was very different. A lot of times in conditioning, he had his goofy attitude which he always has, but that was 24/7 and it was like ‘hey, this is not goofy time now, it’s time to work.’ This offseason, he was the same goofy kid, but when it was time to work, he would get serious. That’s when he started to gain everybody’s trust.”

Defensively, it was MSU’s front seven that consistently made the big stops when needed, led by big performances from senior defensive tackle Kaleb Eulls and sophomore defensive lineman Chris Jones. Mullen said there were many issues on defense he was not pleased with, particularly as the Bulldogs allowed 401 passing yards. However, Mullen was happy to see his unit come up with stops when it really mattered

Eulls himself had a career day with two sacks and five tackles, one of the best performances of his career.

“You expect that from him,” Mullen said. “Kaleb to me is one of my special guys and always will be for the rest of my life. To be where he’s at, from where he’s from, is what makes college football special.”

The Bulldogs now return home to host SEC West foe Arkansas (4-4, 0-4 SEC) next Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium. The game will kickoff at either 6 or 6:15 p.m. CT and will be televised by ESPN or ESPN2.