At the Whistle: No. 12 Kentucky stands alone atop SEC with 34-17 win over Vanderbilt

No. 12 Kentucky football shook off a rocky start to defeat Vanderbilt 34-17, moving to 7-1 on the season. ROAD WARRIORS: Kentucky football stays perfect on the road FILM STUDY: How Kentucky football’s future opponents fared in Week 7 At the Whistle: Defense propels No. 15 Kentucky to 21-13 victory over Oklahoma Will Stein continues to build upon the historic start to his head coaching tenure, becoming the first Kentucky coach to begin his Kentucky career 7-1 since Edwin Sweetland in 1909. With this win, The Wildcats stand alone atop the SEC with a 5-1 conference record. Georgia and Ole Miss are the only other teams with one conference loss, but both teams have already had its bye week making Kentucky the only team with five conference wins. Kentucky will now enter its bye week controlling its own fate. The Wildcats have comfortably positioned themselves within both the SEC Championship and College Football Playoff races. This win grows the Wildcats lead in the all-time series with Vanderbilt to 49-45-4, it also snaps the Commodores two-game win streak over the Cats. Vanderbilt dominated the first 21 minutes of the game, taking a 10-0 lead with a 17:34-3:23 edge in time of possession and out gaining Kentucky 142-14 in that time. After that the Wildcats had both sides of the ball turn things around. After the Commodores took a 10-point lead, Kentucky outgained Vanderbilt 362-120 and led the time of possession 27:40-11:23. Willie Rodriguez provided a standout performance for the Wildcats. He picked up 67 yards on a team-leading 6 receptions, Rodriguez also scored a rushing touchdown with a goal-line carry in the Wildcat. Kenny Darby and DJ Miller combined with Rodriguez to shoulder a bulk of the Wildcats receiving production. Darby had 5 receptions for 43 yards and a touchdown, Miller recorded a team-leading 71 receiving yards on 4 catches. First Quarter Kentucky won the opening coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. Jared Curtis connected with Junior Sherill for a 15-yard completion to get the drive started. A pair of third-down conversions allowed the Commodores offense to cross midfield. Kentucky forced another third down on the next set of downs, this time a sack by Aaron Gates and CJ Works on third-and-9 forced Vanderbilt to punt. After Kenny Minchey was sacked for a 7-yard loss, setting up third-and-14, the Wildcats went three-and-out on the first drive. Wilson Berry’s punt traveled 43 yards to the Vanderbilt 35-yard line, Martel Hight returned the punt 45 yards to bring the Commodores offense to the Wildcats 20-yard line. Vanderbilt failed to take full advantage of its starting field position, with Kentucky’s defense holding strong on third-and-1 to force a field goal attempt. Brock Taylor hit the 30-yard attempt to give the Commodores a 3-0 lead. The Wildcats offense went three-and-out again after targeting DJ Miller on three straight plays, with two of them falling incomplete. Berry’s punt was downed and the Commodores 5-yard line. Vanderbilt got its back off the wall with a 14-yard catch by Sherrill on second down. Curtis connected with tight end Cole Spence for a 18-yard gain on the next play. Kentucky forced Vanderbilt into third-and-11, the Cats once again allowed a back-breaking third down conversion as Curtis found Jayvontay Conner for a 17-yard completion over the middle. Second Quarter The Wildcats forced another third-and-long, this time third-and-7, Vanderbilt converted once again with an 8-yard catch by Sedrick Alexander. Vanderbilt kept the drive alive with yet another third-down conversion, Curtis found Tristen Brown wide open for a 12-yard completion. On the next play, Curtis scrambled up the middle for 13 yards to set up first-and-goal on the Wildcats 4-yard line. Keeping with the trend of the drive, Vanderbilt scored on third-and-goal on a 3-yard catch by Conner. Taylor made the point-after attempt to cap off a 16-play, 95-yard, drive scoring drive that gave Vanderbilt a 10-0 lead. Vanderbilt’s scoring drive lasted just under nine minutes, giving the Commodores an even more lopsided edge in time of possession. Six minutes into the second quarter Vandy led 17:34-3:23. Kentucky picked up a first down, its first of the game, with a 16-yard carry by Mikkel Skinner on the first play of the drive. The Wildcats offense finally seemed to find its rhythm with first downs on back-to-back plays. Jason Patterson picked up the first with a 7-yard carry, then Willie Rodriguez followed with a 21-yard reception. A roughing the passer penalty on the Rodriguez completion helped the Wildcats further advance the ball, setting up first-and-10 on the Commodores 13-yard line. Two carries set up third-and-1 on Vanderbilt’s 4-yard line, but a false start moved the Cats back five yards and led to third-and-6. Vanderbilt sent a blitz, but Miller beat his man and Minchey got the pass off right before the pressure got home for the Cats first touchdown of the game. Adam Zouagui hit the extra point to pull the Cats back within three. The Wildcats stayed solid on third-and-4 to force Vanderbilt to go three-and-out for the first time. Hasaan Sykes broke up the third-down pass to get the defense off the field. Kentucky’s offense took the field on its own 21-yard line with 3:49 to play in the first half. The Cat’s were threatened with another three-and-out but Minchey found Miller for a 12-yard gain on third-and-10. Jovantae Barnes followed with a 12-yard carry on the next play. Vanderbilt brought the pressure on third-and-4 but Minchey connected with Darby in the face of a blitzer to pick up a first down. Minchey and Rodriguez connected for an 18-yard pickup, setting up first-and-goal on Vanderbilt’s 9-yard line with 44 seconds on the clock. Minchey kept the ball on a read option and picked up 7 yards on the carry, then Skinner picked up another yard to set up third-and-goal from the 1-yard line. Kentucky came out in the Wildcat formation, with Rodriguez lined up at quarterback. Rodriguez took the snap, realized nothing was open up the middle, then bounced outside to jog into the end zone untouched. Zouagui’s extra point gave the Wildcats a 14-10 lead with 21 seconds to play in the first half. Vanderbilt kneeled out the rest of the clock to send the Wildcats into halftime with a four-point lead. Halftime The Wildcats got out to an extremely slow start on both sides of the ball, the defense couldn’t seem to get a stop on third down and the offense went three-and-out on its first two possessions. After Vanderbilt took a 10-0 lead six minutes into the second quarter, Kentucky seemed to come alive. The offense found its rhythm and the defense forced Vanderbilt to go three-and-out for the first time. The Commodores had outgained Kentucky 142-14 after taking the 10-0 lead, and also dominated the time of possession with a 17:34-3:23 edge. Vanderbilt had also converted on six-of-eight third-down opportunities, while the Wildcats offense failed to convert either of its third-down plays. After the Commodores scoring drive, Kentucky flipped the script. The Wildcats held a 7:27-1:36 edge in time of possession, and outgained Vanderbilt 146-5 for the remainder of the half. Kentucky also converted four consecutive third-down opportunities. With the Wildcats opting to defer possession to the second half, Kentucky will have a chance to extend its lead to open the second half. Miller and Rodriguez accounted for most of the Wildcats passing success in the first half, combining for 81 of 98 receiving yards and seven of 10 receptions. Jordan Castell picked up where he left off in the Wildcats win over Oklahoma, with a team-leading six first-half tackles including a tackle for loss. Sykes had 5 tackles in the first half and had a pass break up on third down that forced a punt. Third Quarter The Wildcats offense picked up right where they left off. Rodriguez picked up a first down with a 7-yard catch, then on the next set of downs Minchey connected with Darby for 44 yards on third-and-3. On second-and-7, from Vanderbilt’s 10-yard line, Kentucky employed a two-quarterback formation as Brennen Ward joined Minchey in the backfield. Minchey motioned out wide before the snap and Ward ran to the right for a 10-yard touchdown. Zouagui made the point-after attempt to cap off Kentucky’s eight-play, 75-yard, scoring drive that gave the Cats a 21-10 lead. Vanderbilt picked up a first down on the first play of the drive as Curtis and Brown connected for an 11-yard gain. Sykes helped the Commodores effort with a pass interference on second-and-8. The third-down defense struggles that haunted Kentucky early in the first half carried over into the second half. Vanderbilt faced third-and-12, converting with ease on a 14-yard catch by Sherrill. The Wildcats got a shot at redemption almost immediately, setting up third-and-15 on the next set of downs. Vanderbilt went back to Sherrill, he made the catch but came up short to set up fourth-and-3. The Commodores offense stayed on the field for the fourth-down try. Ja’Cory Thomas had single coverage down the sideline and Curtis hit him right in the hands for a 34-yard touchdown. Taylor hit the point-after attempt to cut the Wildcats lead to 21-17. Minchey found Rodriguez for a 10-yard completion on the first play of the Wildcats drive. Two plays later, Minchey made a throw under pressure that Darby hauled in for a 20-yard gain. The Wildcats drive sputtered out after Minchey’s third-and-10 pass to Miller fell incomplete. Kentucky trotted out the field goal unit, Zouagui hit the 47-yard attempt to extend the Cats lead to 24-17. Mi’Quise Humphrey-Grace recorded a strip sack on second-and-14, Tavion Gadson recovered the fumble on the Commodores 17-yard line. Fourth Quarter The Wildcats couldn’t take full advantage of its starting field position, but Zouagui hit a 32-yard field goal to give the Wildcats a 27-17 lead. Kentucky came away with another turnover on the Commodores next possession. This time it was an interception by Ty Bryant that gave Kentucky the ball on Vanderbilt’s 47-yard line after an 18-yard return. The Wildcats were more advantageous of the starting field position on this drive, putting together a 13-play, 47-yard, scoring drive with a rushing touchdown by Minchey. Zouagui made the point-after attempt to grow the Wildcats lead to 34-17. Vanderbilt went three-and-out after starting the drive on its own 10-yard line, a short 33-yard punt gave the Wildcats possession on the Commodores 49-yard line. The Wildcats ran off the remainder of the clock to secure the 34-17 win. Kentucky’s is set to have its bye week next week. The Wildcats will return to action on Nov. 7, travelling to Knoxville, Tennessee, to take on the Volunteers in a night game at Neyland Stadium.