Cats Need A Win In The Worst Way
A month ago the Kentucky football team was riding high at 6-0 and talk abounded of a major bowl bid. However, the wheels have come off for Mark Stoops‘ team since then. Following three straight losses, the Cats’ chances of a New Year’s Six bowl are gone. On Saturday they hit the road looking to bounce back against a team they’ve had a great deal of recent success against. Let’s take a look at both teams and give you a prediction with our Kentucky versus Vanderbilt preview.
Picking Up The Pieces
Even a few days after the fact it’s still difficult to believe Kentucky would have over 600 yards of total offense, dominate time of possession, and still lose. Yet that’s exactly what happened in the 45-42 loss to Tennessee. The crazy thing is this isn’t the first time it’s happened against the Vols.
With 612 yards tonight, @UKFootball has amassed at least 600 yards of total offense 3 times in school history against Tennessee. Kentucky is 0-3 in those 3 games (1997, 2016, 2021).
— Corey Price (@coreyp08) November 7, 2021
If that wasn’t bad enough in the history of UK Football they were 119-0 when scoring at least 41 points in regulation. Of course, now the Cats have to forget about what happened and move on. The biggest problem on Saturday was giving up big plays. On Tennessee’s first two possessions it only took them four plays to get two touchdowns. In the first half of the year, the defense limited big plays on defense. Unfortunately, the last couple of weeks it’s been just the opposite. Over the last three games, the Kentucky secondary has allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete 65 of 79 passes for 910 yards and eight touchdowns with no interceptions. That has to be better against Vanderbilt on Saturday. Speaking of the Wildcats’ opponent let’s take a look at them.
Scouting the Commodores
Under first-year head coach, Clark Lea Vanderbilt comes into Saturday sporting a 2-7 record and 0-5 in league play. They’ve lost four straight since beating Connecticut 30-28 back on October 2nd so they’ve gone even longer than Kentucky without winning. They do have questions at quarterback at starter Ken Seals hasn’t played since suffering a finger injury in a 42-0 loss to Florida on October 9th. On the season Seals has thrown for 1,086 yards and five touchdowns. Although, he’s been intercepted seven times.
In his absence, Mike Wright has filled in and has performed pretty well. He had his best game of the year in Vandy’s last game two weeks ago against Missouri where he threw for 122 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-28 loss at Missouri. In addition, he ran for another 152 yards, and as the Big Blue Nation knows Kentucky’s had trouble against dual-threat quarterbacks over the years.
Whoever starts under center has some good weapons at their disposal. They have three receivers with more than 25 catches this season. Chris Pierce and Will Sheppard have combined for 73 receptions and 893 yards. You also can’t forget about Cam Johnson, whose numbers are down from 202o but leads the team with four touchdowns.
On the other side of the ball, Vandy ranks 121st in the nation and last in the SEC giving up 463 yards per game. While they’ve been very opportunistic with 11 interceptions for the year. In addition, they’ve picked off a pass in six straight games. With the well-documented turnover issues Kentucky’s had in 2021 that’s a definite cause for concern.
Now that we’ve given you a look at both teams as we continue our Kentucky versus Vanderbilt preview let’s look at the history between the two schools.
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Series History
Saturday’s matchup is the 104th meeting in the history of the two schools. Overall UK leads the series 47 wins to 42 and there have been four ties. However, recently Kentucky’s dominated the series winning the last five. A victory on Saturday ties Kentucky’s consecutive SEC winning steak against one school. From 1976-1981 UK won six straight against the Commodores.
A season ago Kentucky went up against a winless Vanderbilt squad thinking they’d have an easy victory. Be that as it may, it turned out to be quite a battle. The Cats jumped out to a lead of 21-7 and 38-21. Seals rallied Vandy each time scoring twice inside the last three minutes cutting it to three. Fortunately, UK recovered the onside kick preserving a 38-35 victory. Chris Rodriguez‘s 149 yards rushing and two scores led the Wildcat attack. Running behind “The Big Blue Wall” Kentucky rolled up 308 yards on the ground. In addition quarterback Terry Wilson had a very good game completing 13 of 15 passes for 110 yards and two more touchdowns.
Now that we’ve talked about both teams and given you some history, let’s pick a winner as we continue our Kentucky versus Vanderbilt preview.
Who Wins On Saturday?
Vanderbilt’s followed an interesting pattern so far in 2021. One game they get blown out and the next is a really close game. Two weeks ago when they last played they took Missouri to the wire. That means if the theory holds true Kentucky should win in a blowout. In reality, it’s difficult to see these Wildcats winning big over anyone right now. They still have a great deal to play for and Stoops needs to hammer that home.
The Cats should be favored in their three remaining games and a sweep gives them a 9-3 record and a chance at a really good bowl game. Right now Last Word has the Cats playing in the Citrus Bowl. Considering that UK has only won nine games in a regular-season three times since 1950 that’s cause for celebration. Then again in 2021, it’s considered by some as a disappointment because of what could have been.
In the end, Kentucky needs to get back to doing what got them to 6-0 in the first place, dominating the game on the ground behind Rodriguez. On the other side of the ball, they must limit big plays from Vanderbilt. More than likely this ends up being a home game for the Cats as a ton of fans will head down Interstate 65 and invade Nashville. Kentucky opened as a 21 point favorite and they never cover against the Commodores. That happens again on Saturday but they get a much-needed win in their last conference game of 2021.
Kentucky 35-17
Thanks for checking out our Kentucky versus Vanderbilt preview here at Last Word On College Football. We’ll be back after the game with a recap and get you ready for next Saturday when they host New Mexico State.
