Mississippi State vs. Kentucky: Score and Twitter Reaction

Kentucky gave No. 1 Mississippi State all it could handle, but running back Josh Robinson had a huge day to help the Bulldogs survive with a 45-31 win on the road.

Robinson led the way for Mississippi State with 198 rushing yards and two touchdowns in a dominant showing for the junior. Heisman candidate Dak Prescott had a big day as well with 216 passing yards and 88 rushing yards, including three scores.

Quarterback Patrick Towles had a great effort for Kentucky with four total touchdowns, 390 passing yards, 76 rushing yards and even 11 receiving yards. Unfortunately, he didn't get enough help as the Wildcats fell to 5-3 on the season.

Both teams topped 500 total yards of offense in the game, but the Bulldogs had more balance to come away with the win and remain undefeated.

Mississippi State started the game exactly the way it wanted to with a defensive stop and an easy first drive that went 82 yards and ended with a touchdown. However, Kentucky answered quickly with a huge play by wide receiver Demarco Robinson, who went 67 yards for his own touchdown:

Kyle Tucker of The Courier-Journal noted the impact of this play:

The Bulldogs kept moving the ball, though, scoring a field goal and then a touchdown to take a 17-7 lead. The score came on a Prescott rushing touchdown, which Sports Illustrated noted is not fun for the defense:

Jon Solomon of CBS Sports provided his overall analysis of the elite offense:

Still, Kentucky hung around and went into halftime only down 17-10. Matt Jones of Kentucky Radio was impressed despite the team not playing extremely well:

Meanwhile, head coach Mark Stoops believed his team had an upset bid at halftime, via Mark Story of Kentucky.com:

The second half continued with the back-and-forth style. Prescott scored an impressive rushing touchdown to put MSU up 24-10. That was followed by a great drive by Towles, who capped it off with his own 10-yard run into the end zone to bring the Wildcats back within one touchdown, at 24-17.

Tim Brando of Fox Sports discussed the excitement in the close game:

The problem was Kentucky's defense simply could not stop the Bulldogs from putting points on the board. Mississippi State went up 31-17 on a three-play, 81-yard drive that included an incredible 22-yard run by Robinson:

Once again, Kentucky answered with a 58-yard touchdown pass from Towles to Javess Blue.

After a few defensive stops, it was Robinson again who came through for Mississippi State. On a big 3rd-and-1, the running back got the ball up the middle and took it to the house for a 73-yard touchdown run to put his team up 38-24. 

ESPN's Travis Haney was impressed with the play:

The Wildcats did eventually cut the lead in half with another Towles rushing touchdown with 2:31 remaining in regulation. With a successful onside kick, Kentucky would have had the ball with a chance to tie. Unfortunately, Mississippi State's Christian Holmes returned the onside kick attempt all the way for a touchdown to extend the lead to 45-31. 

Gary Parrish of CBS Sports gave his opinion on Kentucky's final chance:

The game was a lot closer than the final score would indicate, but Mississippi State survived and moved to 7-0 on the season. 

Kentucky will now try to remain competitive in the SEC East with consecutive battles at Missouri and then against Georgia at home. Even after a couple of slip-ups this year, the Wildcats have a chance to play their way into the conference title game with a little help.

Playing the Bulldogs close didn't really seem possible after a 41-3 loss last week to LSU, but this squad can surprise people if it plays as well as it did Saturday. 

Mississippi State will return home next week to face Arkansas, which knows how to keep games close but still has not won a conference game in 16 tries. Despite this stat, Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins create a rushing attack the Bulldogs shouldn't overlook.

As the No. 1 team in the country, the Bulldogs have their sights on a national championship and will have to do whatever it takes to stay undefeated. They did that successfully against Kentucky.

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