After the last week, any win was one to relish for Kentucky’s football team
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Game day: Kentucky 38, Vanderbilt 35
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Vanderbilt football game at Kroger Field in Lexington, Ky.
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Kentucky got back in the win column with a 38-35 victory over Vanderbilt at Kroger Field on Saturday.
Here’s a quick look at what that outcome means beyond the scoreboard and season tally.
A good streak
Most of the lengthy win streaks Kentucky had racked up over Southeastern Conference opponents have ended in the last couple seasons (South Carolina last year and Missouri this year), but it extended its current streak over Vanderbilt to five straight, bringing a school record into view.
Fran Curci was head coach for all six wins of a streak over Vanderbilt, the longest win streak over any SEC opponent by a UK head coach. Mark Stoops is the only coach in UK history to have had streaks of at least five wins against multiple SEC opponents (his teams had won five games against South Carolina before a 24-7 loss on the road last season).
Vanderbilt won 19 of the first 22 games in the series, all played prior to 1946 (there were two ties and a UK win over that stretch). Since then, the Wildcats are 45-23-2 against the Nashville private school.
Momentum
There’s the obvious momentum that comes with earning a win but, more importantly, UK was able to get its offense in a rhythm seldom seen in 2020.
Sure, it was performing against a Vanderbilt squad fielding just 58 scholarship players, but after it looked like Kentucky’s players were wearing cleats made of concrete against Missouri and Georgia, it was refreshing to see the ball move forward with ease. It might be too little too late with three regular-season games left on the schedule, but it’s a jolt of confidence for a unit that’s lacked identity most of the season.
The pass attack was especially encouraging. Terry Wilson was laser sharp on most of his throws, two tight ends caught touchdowns and guys other than Josh Ali were reliable targets.
Kentucky has lost its next game only once following a win over Vanderbilt under Mark Stoops, a 42-13 loss to Georgia in 2017. With No. 1 Alabama on deck, any well of positivity the Wildcats might be able to draw from is worth acknowledging.
Bright spot
It’s been a depressing week in Lexington.
The passing of offensive line coach John Schlarman hit closest to home for the football team. The abrupt resignation and retirement of women’s basketball coach Matthew Mitchell further brought the subject of health to the forefront. The COVID-19 pandemic rages on, and our city is in the midst of its toughest part of that battle.
Football is just a game. Life, its goods and bads, will go on regardless of any outcome. But with so much heaviness in the world at large and in the personal lives of so many in the UK athletics department, a victory gained a little more value. It’s only worth one win in the record books but, this week, it feels like a few more.
This story was originally published November 14, 2020 at 3:33 PM.
