Struggling Kentucky, Mississippi St. looking for precious SEC win

JACKSON, Miss. - The wins aren&#39;t coming fast enough. The coaches are being criticized by a Greek chorus of fans. Patience is no longer a virtue. And sometimes the scoring margins are embarrassingly large.<br> <br> That&#39;s a description of Kentucky. Or Mississippi State. Take your pick when the two struggling Southeastern Conference teams meet Saturday in Starkville. While Kentucky players have deflected the typical must-win questions this week, Croom has embraced them.<br> <br> ``There&#39;s no question for me, for our fans, for the way our team feels, the way our coaches feel, this is a real big game,&#39;&#39; Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom said. ``I think it&#39;s a real big game for both programs because it&#39;s all about moving forward, about taking positive steps. We&#39;ve done some.<br> <br> ``Can we take another step?&#39;&#39;<br> <br> It was an extra-large step for the Bulldogs (2-6, 0-4 SEC) last week when they lost to once fearsome Georgia on the final play. Mississippi State has scored 59 points the last two weeks, the most produced in a 14-day span since Croom took over in 2004.<br> <br> The offense might be blossoming at just the right time. Kentucky comes into the game ranked last among 119 NCAA Division I teams in total defense.<br> <br> The Wildcats (3-4, 1-3 SEC) are 103rd in scoring defense, 110th in passing defense and 115th in rushing defense. They give up 30.7 points per game, which has led to probing questions for players in Lexington during a bye week that followed a 49-0 loss to LSU.<br> <br> ``It&#39;s not the coaches&#39; fault we are in the situation we are in now,&#39;&#39; defensive end Jeremy Jarmon said. ``It&#39;s the players&#39; fault. Particularly we as the defense are going out there and making mistakes.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Jarmon said the team will try to reverse the trend against the Bulldogs.<br> <br> ``We are playing for ourselves, our pride and our coaches,&#39;&#39; he said.<br> <br> Mississippi State hasn&#39;t played up to expectations, either. Croom&#39;s job is safe, but the team hasn&#39;t played as well as hoped. An emerging problem is a once-hyped defense that is having trouble slowing opponents.<br> <br> Kentucky quarterback Andre Woodson may create problems for the group. He&#39;s a productive, mobile quarterback who holds onto the ball like it&#39;s a precious ruby.<br> <br> The junior leads an offense that averages 24.1 points per game. He&#39;s tied for the lead in the SEC with 15 touchdown passes and has just four interceptions. He holds the SEC record for career interception ratio for players with 400 or more attempts at 50.5 attempts for every one interception. He&#39;s thrown 556 passes in his career with 11 interceptions.<br> <br> His stinginess has helped the Wildcats excel in turnover margin, where they are averaging plus-1 a game second in the SEC and 14th in the nation.<br> <br> The Mississippi State defense is giving up 26.4 ppg now after a fairly strong start. Its schedule has included three ranked teams and one (Georgia) that fell out of the polls the Monday before the two teams played.<br> <br> Despite the mounting losses, Croom believes the team is improving and ready to make a move. He&#39;s also aware that the Wildcats are playing for pride, too, which makes them a dangerous opponent.<br> <br> ``Kentucky is fighting some of the same things we are just learning how to win, how to make those one or two plays to put you over the top,&#39;&#39; he said. ``We went up there last year in a pretty even contest (the Wildcats won 13-7) and they just wanted the game up there more than we did. I really believe that&#39;s what it&#39;s going to come down to this week who&#39;s got the strongest will to win.&#39;&#39;