Mississippi State Wins, 23-22

Given a second chance, Scott Westerfield kicked a 45-yard field goal with five seconds left as eighth-ranked Mississippi State beat Kentucky, 23-22, Thursday night at Starkville, Miss., to remain undefeated.

Mississippi State, 8-0 overall and 5-0 in the Southeastern Conference, came from a double-digit deficit and won in the final two minutes for the third consecutive game. It is the best start in school history.

Westerfield, who four minutes earlier had missed a 46-yard field goal, got another chance after Kentucky (5-4, 3-3 in the SEC) was forced to punt with 1:30 left.

Matt Wyatt, who replaced injured starting quarterback Wayne Madkin in the third quarter, completed five of six passes to move Mississippi State 53 yards. After a penalty for an illegal forward pass put the ball at the Kentucky 28, Westerfield came on and made a wobbly kick.

Mississippi State’s top-rated defense held Kentucky to 176 yards--226 below its SEC leading average.

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Florida State receiver Peter Warrick wrote a letter of apology for his role in a September shopping scandal.

Warrick, a leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy before his arrest on theft charges in a scam at a mall in Tallahassee, Fla., said he wanted to speak on his own behalf through the letter published in today’s editions on the Tallahassee Democrat.

“I don’t want to send a message to young people that it is OK to break the law,” he wrote. “Whether I choose to be or not, I have become a role model for other young athletes. In this situation, I regret that I did not set a good example.”