Week ten is here for the Mississippi State Bulldogs as they welcome the Kentucky Wildcats to Davis Wade Stadium on Saturday night. With one Southeastern Conference win over the Arkansas Razorbacks, the Mississippi State Bulldogs are trying to salvage a disappointing season with a few late-season wins that would earn the Bulldogs another trip to the postseason. The first of those comes in the fashion against the struggling Kentucky Wildcats. Kentucky comes into the matchup with Mississippi State on Saturday night, losers of the last three games after starting the season 5-0. Kentucky has not won in Starkville since the 2008 season when the Wildcats escaped Davis Wade Stadium with a narrow 14-13 win over the Bulldogs. Following the Kentucky game on Saturday, Mississippi State has a road game at Texas A&M and two home games against Southern Miss and Ole Miss to close out the season in-state.

For Mississippi State, a win over Kentucky on Saturday would give the Bulldogs a glimmer of hope to salvage the 2023 season. It won’t come easy, as Head Coach Mark Stoops and the Kentucky Wildcats come to Davis Wade Stadium looking to do the same. Both teams are desperate for a win, creating a one-of-a-kind environment on Saturday where the winner will go home feeling good about the postseason, and others need to make drastic changes.

The last time Mississippi State found itself against the wall of despair against Arkansas two Saturdays ago, the Bulldogs would respond on the defensive side of the ball coming away from the Hog Pen with a massive road Southeastern Conference win. Coach Arnett and his staff will need the defense to step up on Saturday as well as they look to contain the talented Kentucky running back, Ray Davis.

Containing Ray Davis won’t be an easy task for Coach Arnett and the feisty Mississippi State defense. However, Mississippi State has done it before against Arkansas and Arizona; Kentucky is better than the Razorbacks but on the same level as the Wildcats of Arizona. For the Mississippi State defense to be successful on Saturday night against the Kentucky Wildcats, playing a full sixty minutes is dire. Kentucky has started strong in the first half before caving in the second half to teams; for the Bulldogs, not letting Kentucky start strong is crucial given the unsuccessful nature of the Mississippi State offensive unit.

On top of not letting Kentucky get out to an early lead, Mississippi State needs somebody other than Jett Johnson and Boogie Watson to step up and lead the Bulldogs on defense. There’s only so much Johnson and Watson can do before somebody else on the Mississippi State defense needs to step up, shouldering some of the load for the Bulldogs on Saturday. In the Auburn game, that next-level guy was Marcus Bank, who finished the day with six tackles.

Lastly, capitalizing on the inconsistencies of the Kentucky quarterback, Devin Leary, will provide the Bulldogs’ defense with another crucial way to win the game on Saturday. Leary comes into the Mississippi State game on Saturday, trying to continue the momentum from his best performance against the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday. Leary finished his best performance of the season in the loss to the Volunteers with two touchdowns on 372 yards through the air. Mississippi State will need its secondary to step up to create Kentucky turnovers.

Kentucky and Mississippi State will play under the lights at Davis Wade Stadium with a kick-off slated for 6:30 on the SEC Network.