Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics
Postgame Notes: Mississippi State at Kentucky
October 10, 2020 | Football
GENERAL
- MSU's all-time record against the Wildcats is now 24-24.
- Kentucky won the coin toss and elected to receive.
- MSU's game captain was LB Erroll Thompson.
- Tonight's attendance was 12,000.
- Two Bulldogs made their Mississippi State debut against Kentucky, bringing the season total to 19 in 2020. (QB Will Rogers, RB Kareem Walker)
- One true freshman made their collegiate debut against Kentucky, bringing the season total to eight in 2020. (QB Will Rogers)Â Â
- Two Bulldogs made their first career starts against Kentucky, bringing the season total to 14Â in 2020. (CB Emmanuel Forbes and OL James Jackson)Â Â
OFFENSE
- MSU surpassed the 1,000 yards passing in the second quarter, marking the fewest games needed to reach 1,000 yards in through the air in school history.
- The 70 passing attempts are the most in a single game in SEC and MSU history. The previous MSU was 60 attempts, which occurred in each of the first two games of the 2020 season, while the SEC record was 69 by LSU against Auburn in 1999.
- The 45 completions by MSU are a program record and sit No. 3 all-time in a single game in SEC history. MSU completed 43 passes last weekend against Arkansas, while the two games better in the SEC belong to Kentucky during the 1998 season, when Mike Leach was the offensive coordinator for the Wildcats.
- The 14 rushing attempts are the fewest in a game by a Mississippi State team in program history. The previous mark was 16 at LSU on Sept. 26, 2020.
DEFENSE
- The 157 yards of total offense are the fewest yielded by a Mississippi State team since 2017 vs. Charleston Southern (33 yards). They are the fewest yards of total offense yielded by MSU in an SEC contest since 2008 against Vanderbilt (107 yards).
- Mississippi State held Kentucky to just 81 rushing yards in the game, the first time since at least 2006 that MSU has held three straight SEC opponents under 100 yards rushing.
- MSU has at least one takeaway in 29 of its last 32 games.
- Fred Peters forced and recovered a fumble in the third quarter.
- Marks the Bulldogs' 56th takeaway in the 32-game span dating back to Nov. 18, 2017 at Arkansas.
- Fred Peters forced and recovered a fumble in the third quarter.
- Mississippi State recorded a safety for the first time since 2017 against Charleston Southern.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
QB K.J. Costello
- With 232 yards passing at Kentucky, to become the fastest MSU passer to reach 1,000 to start a season. Ended the night with 1,168 yards passing through three games.
- Costello's 35 completions rank No. 4 on Mississippi State single game list, giving him three of the top four spots in program history.
- Caught a career-long 23-yard pass in the second quarter.
- Caught a career-high six passes. His previous best with five receptions versus Arkansas last week.
- Caught a career-high 15 passes to equal Eric Moulds' school-record 15 catch effort at Tennessee on Sept. 23, 1995. His previous best was eight receptions at LSU on Sept. 26, 2020.
- The 15 receptions rank tied for No. 6 all-time in SEC history and are the most in the SEC since Vanderbilt's Earl Bennett had 16 versus South Carolina in 2005. Â
- With 17 rushing yards, Hill moved his career total to 2,535 rushing yards to move into No. 8 in school history, passing Dak Prescott (2,521; 2012-15).
- Made first career start at center in his 15th career game played.Â
- Caught a career-high four passes. His previous best was three against Arkansas last week.Â
- Posted career highs for punt returns (5), punt return yardage (43) and long punt return (17).
- Posted a career-high 1.5 tackles for loss. HIs previous best was 1.0 tackles for loss on three occasions, last against Arkansas last week.
- Made a career-best five tackles. His previous best was four stops at LSU to open the 2020 season.
- Made first career start at cornerback, becoming the third true freshman - and first on defense - to make a start in 2020.
- Posted a career-high two tackles, after posting his only career tackles at LSU to open the 2020 season.
- Broke up his first two career passes.
- Tied his career high with two stops, which he also accomplished at LSU to open the 2020 season.
- Tied his career high with two stops, which he also accomplished last week against Arkansas.
- Forced his second career fumble in the third quarter.
- Recovered his forced fumble, for his first career fumble recovery.
- Tied his career high with six tackles for the third time in his career, all coming in 2020.
- Picked up a sack in the fourth quarter, giving him at least 0.5 sacks in six of his last seven games.
- Logged a career-high 2.5 tackles for loss, which bested his 2.0 TFL effort at LSU earlier this season.
- Posted a career-high-tying three tackles, which equaled his total at LSU to open the 2020 season.
- Logged a sack for the third straight game to start his Mississippi State career.
- Hit four 60+ yard punts on the night, with two downed inside the 20-yard line.
- With a career-high four punts of 50+ yards, Day now has five 50+ yard punts in 2020 and 19 for his career.
- Notched his first two punts inside the 20-yard line of the season and now has 28 for his career.
- With his third-quarter punt downed at the UK 2-yard line, Day now has nine career punts downed inside the opponents 10-yard line.
- Averaged a career-best 59.6 yards per punt, which bested his 50.4 yards per punt average against Iowa in 2019.
Players Mentioned
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