Cats Need One Win For A Bowl
A month ago, the Kentucky Football team sat at 2-5, and the season was thought to be over. However, three straight wins have brought Mark Stoops’ club to the brink of another bowl game. In the process, it’s cooled what was once one of the hottest seats in college football. On Saturday, the Cats travel to a place where they’ve had a lot of recent success. It won’t be easy as they face a Vanderbilt squad with a chance of making the College Football Playoff. Let’s look at both teams, give you some history, and a score prediction as Kentucky Plays For The Post Season.
Late Season Surge Continues
We’ve talked about it quite a bit, but one of the biggest factors in the three-game winning streak is a well-balanced offense. A big part of that is quarterback Cutter Boley. The three-time reigning SEC freshman of the week is coming off another strong performance in the win over Tennessee Tech.
Over the last three games, Boley’s thrown for 565 yards and four touchdowns. While that might not sound that impressive, it’s the best Kentucky has looked with Bush Hamdan as offensive coordinator.
Any good Mark Stoops team has a strong running game as well. That’s certainly been the case recently. Seth McGowan and Dante Dowdell have become quite the 1-2 combination. McGowan leads the Cats with 693 yards and 12 touchdowns. That puts him 13th in the nation in scoring. Dowdell has run for 191 yards and two touchdowns in the last two games. They’ll need a great effort on Saturday as they face one of the top offenses in the nation.
Scouting The Commodores
Under head coach Clark Lea, Vanderbilt comes into Saturday sporting an 8-2 record and 4-2 in the SEC. They sit 14th in the most recent college football playoff rankings.
The offense is led by quarterback Diego Pavia. He’s having an outstanding season, completing 70 percent of his passes for 2,440 yards. In addition, he’s thrown for 21 touchdowns and only five interceptions. As a result, he’s a frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy.
Pavia is a dual-threat signal caller who’s also run for 613 yards and seven more scores. Vanderbilt scores points, and lots of them, ranking eighth in the country, averaging 38.3 points per game.
Sedrick Alexander and Makhilyn Young are the top two running backs. Alexander has 438 yards and eight touchdowns, while Young averages nearly 10 yards per rush and has 399 yards and ten scores.
Tight end Eli Stowers is one of the best in college football. On the season, he has 51 receptions for 669 yards and four touchdowns. Wide receiver Junior Sherrill is another top target with 35 catches for 470 yards and four touchdowns.
For as good as the offense is, the defense has had its struggles. While overall the unit sits 57th in total defense, they’ve had issues against the pass. Currently, Vandy sits 104th in college football, allowing 244.7 yards a game. Furthermore, they only have four interceptions for the year. With Kentucky’s recent emphasis on passing the ball, that could prove a key to victory.
Now that we’ve previewed both teams, let’s look at the long rivalry between the two schools as Kentucky plays for the postseason.
Series History
Saturday marks the 98th time Kentucky and Vanderbilt have met on the gridiron. Currently, the Wildcats lead the series 49-44 with four ties. The Commodores won 16 of the first 17 meetings with one tie. However, since 1938 UK has a 49-28 advantage with three ties. Stoops is 8-4 all-time against Vandy, while Lea is 2-2 against the Cats.
In recent years, home field hasn’t been much of an advantage as Kentucky’s won the last four playing in Nashville. Their last loss came back in 2015. On the other hand, Vanderbilt has won the last two in Lexington. Two years ago, Maxwell Hairston returned two interceptions for touchdowns as the Cats won easily by 17.
We do this every week in our preview, and now it’s prediction time as Kentucky plays for the postseason.
Who Wins On Saturday?
As we mentioned in the beginning,g the stakes are high for both teams. The Wildcats need one win in their last two, either Saturday or next week against Louisville, to make a ninth bowl in the last 10 years. On the other side of the ball, the Commodores need to win Saturday and against Tennessee next week to have a shot at the playoffs.
The Wildcats are banged up on defense, facing one of the best offenses in football. However, Vandy’s struggled stopping the pass, and Boley has been really good the last few weeks. For UK to spring the upset, he’s going to have his best road game of his career. Vandy’s given up 30-plus points in their last two league games, while the Cats have gone for more than 30 in three of their last four.
All signs point to this one being a shootout. While Kentucky definitely has a good chance, Pavia’s made a career out of winning big games, especially late. That’s what happens here as the Commodores pull out a close one.
Vanderbilt 31-27
How To Watch
Opponent: Vanderbilt
Date and Time: Saturday, November 22nd, 3:30 pm EST
Location: FirstBank Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee (Capacity 40,350)
Television: ESPN
Spread: Vanderbilt is a 9.5-point favorite with the over/under at 53.5
Main Image: Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
