‘We want to be first.’ Another winning SEC record a building block for UK.
Kentucky’s football season isn’t finished yet, but it capped Southeastern Conference play Saturday with a 34-17 victory at Vanderbilt.
The result stopped a three-game losing streak. Each loss was to a league opponent, and each one was disappointing in a different way for a UK team that started 6-0 and teased the notion of earning a New Year’s Six bowl game, or even contending for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
The first, to Georgia, eliminated Kentucky from the SEC championship conversation. The second, at Mississippi State, was distressing given that UK was coming off a bye. The third, at home last week, came at the hands of Tennessee — need more be said? A fourth would have been the worst of all, since it would have been league win No. 1 this season for the Commodores, who instead lost their 18th straight SEC game.
Kentucky did what it needed to in front of a friendly crowd — at least 15,000 of the 25,000-plus fans in attendance wore blue in contrast to the black Vanderbilt asked its fans to adorn — and took steps to rekindle the momentum it lost amid its slide. A lackluster showing in the second half kept its flame from getting too bright — UK took a 31-3 lead into halftime but was outscored 14-3 in the second half after Vanderbilt switched from Ken Seals to Mike Wright at quarterback. But with wins off the menu since Oct. 9, UK was more satisfied than not.
“We were hungry for a win,” said defensive end Josh Paschal, who had two quarterback sacks. “We hadn’t won in like a month, so we were ready to get a win.”
With a 5-3 final ledger in the league, Kentucky ended with a winning record in SEC play for just the second time since 1977. The first, in 2018, also came under Mark Stoops, who earned an automatic extension of his contract by one year by winning his seventh game of the season. Since the league split into divisions in 1992, it is the first time that UK ended league play with sole possession of second place in the East; the 2018 team finished in a tie for second place, as did Stoops’ 2016 team.
Kentucky’s players and coaches talk a lot about getting to Atlanta. A 5-3 league record isn’t going to get teams into the SEC championship game most years, but getting above .500 — period, let alone in the SEC — is still more new in Lexington than it’s not. The bar’s raising, even if incrementally.
“At the end of the day, we want to be first,” Paschal said. “That’s our goal. But being second, we’re not going to take any moral victories, that’s something to build on. These guys, I’m sure they’ll come back next year hungry and ready to get after it.
“It’s good to set that standard, but of course we’re trying to get better and get up to that first spot.”
Chris Rodriguez looked the most like himself since the 6-0 start. Newly-inserted starters at the safety spots — Vito Tisdale for Davonte Robinson and Jalen Geiger for Tyrell Ajian — helped give the Cats’ struggling defense a different energy to open the game. Youngsters JuTahn McClain (69 yards on 10 rushes) and Izayah Cummings (27 yards and a TD on two catches) demonstrated playmaking ability from the non-Rodriguez and Wan’Dale Robinson categories.
Quarterback Will Levis’ final stat line wasn’t especially noteworthy — 14 of 22 for 177 yards and two touchdowns with an interception — mostly because he started 10 of 12 and all but 21 of those yards came on those first 10 completions. But he didn’t take a big step back from his performance against the Volunteers, as he did coming off other strong showings this season.
For Kentucky, it was ultimately a win from which to grow, for the remainder of this year and into the future. The context of how UK got to it, right now, makes a 5-3 SEC finish taste a bit sour. But as far as bricks go, it could be building with worse.
“I think we have the team, and the talent, and the leadership and the coaching to do that year in and year out,” Levis said. “… The SEC, it’s tough to do that regardless of who you are or who you’re playing. Getting an SEC win on the road and getting a record like that is something to be proud of. I’m happy for my guys and glad to wrap up our SEC schedule this year on a good note.”
Next game
New Mexico State at Kentucky
When: Noon Saturday
TV: SEC Network
