Mississippi State coach Mike Leach said he would have to evaluate the roster and possibly “purify” some players who did not fit into the plan after Saturday’s 24-2 defeat in Kentucky.
The Bulldogs, who started the season with a defending national champion LSU and SEC record 623 pass-yards in the 34-yard win, failed to record the offense and stopped six opponents against Kentucky. Mississippi State lost its second consecutive game to Arkansas after losing 21-14 at home last week, losing to the 20-game SEC.
After the loss of Kentucky, Leach said, “We’ll investigate some of our group and find out who really wants to play here.” Because of any misdeeds, we’ll purge some of them. “
Mississippi State outscored Kentucky 296-157 and held the ball for about 35 minutes. Kentucky had an 8-yard interception return for the touchdown and went just 22 yards and 2 yards on the other two scoring drives. Shining quarterback KJ Costello in the opener threw four hurdles before transferring newcomer Will Rogers, who was stopped twice.
“We didn’t play together at all,” Leach said. “You can really tell all the stories. We’ve got a way to clear it. The next three guys can beat our five in a row. Our receivers didn’t catch the ball consistently. … We turned the ball, which made the quarterback’s eyes not in the right place. Was a by-product. “
Asked if Costello, a graduate from Stanford, would be the starter of Mississippi State, Leach said, “We’ll have to go back and take a look.”
Leach also pointed to poor offensive line play, penalties, and passing passes as issues that created Mississippi State’s offense against Kentucky. He said the Bulldogs practice well but do not translate their performance into the game, noting that crime problems are “unit-wide.”
“Offensively, we’re not coaching very well right now,” Leach said. “We have to coach better. If you look at this game, almost every problem that we’ve had self-extinction. With a lot of respect for Kentucky, but also self-extinction one after the other. I’ve been into a lot of sports. No balls fell. I don’t know how many balls we fell but I lost my count. “
Mississippi State will return home next week to face No. 21 Texas A&M.
“We’ve had a good offense,” Leach said. “We’ve got a new system, we’ve got some young and inexperienced, and we’ve just stayed together and coached our way through it.”
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