Diego Pavia breaks Vanderbilt passing record as Commodores rout Kentucky
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Gameday: No. 12 Vanderbilt 45, Kentucky 17
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Vanderbilt football game in Nashville, Tennessee.
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Vanderbilt blowout might be most worrying sign yet about state of UK football
For UK football, U of L represents a final chance to salvage a difficult season
Diego Pavia breaks Vanderbilt passing record as Commodores rout Kentucky
5 things you need to know from UK football’s embarrassing 45-17 loss at Vandy
Full stats and notable numbers from Kentucky football’s 45-17 loss at Vanderbilt
The positive momentum Kentucky football built with three consecutive wins disappeared in less than one half of football Saturday.
Vanderbilt star quarterback Diego Pavia completed two touchdown passes of at least 50 yards before halftime on the way to a 45-17 rout of the Wildcats. It was Vanderbilt’s biggest win over Kentucky since the 40-0 win that ended the Joker Phillips era at UK in 2012.
UK quarterback Cutter Boley struggled for most of the game. He completed 25 of 44 passes for 280 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, but 203 of those yards came in the fourth quarter after UK had fallen down 42. Kentucky totaled just 31 rushing yards.
Meanwhile, a UK defense missing three of its top four cornerbacks and four normal starters was consistently exposed through the air, surrendering 539 passing yards.
With the loss, Kentucky must now beat archrival Louisville in the regular-season finale to reach six wins and bowl eligibility. A loss to Louisville would clinch a second straight losing season for Kentucky and under-fire coach Mark Stoops.
Turning point
Kentucky’s defense held Vanderbilt to just three points on its first drive, which lasted 15 plays and just less than 10 minutes of game action, but the Commodores proved capable of scoring quickly on their second possession. On the fourth play of that possession, Pavia hit wide receiver Tre Richardson for a 71-yard score. UK cornerback JQ Hardaway, the only healthy player from UK’s primary rotation at the position, was beat on the play, signalling a long afternoon to come.
Player of the game
Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia entered the weekend with the fourth-best Heisman Trophy odds, according to DraftKings. He did his best Saturday to move up that list. Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea left Pavia in long enough to break the school passing yards record for a single game (484). He completed 33 of 39 passes with four touchdowns and one interception. Pavia also gained 48 yards and one touchdown on 15 carries. Pavia’s performance rivaled Peyton Manning’s 523 passing yards and five touchdowns against Kentucky in 1997 as one of the best single-game performances recorded against the Wildcats.
Key stat
The first six years of Kentucky’s eight-year bowl streak under Stoops all included wins over Vanderbilt, but the downturn in his tenure began with the 2022 home loss to Vanderbilt that snapped the Commodores’ 26-game SEC losing streak. Vanderbilt has now won three of the last four games in the series.
This story was originally published November 22, 2025 at 7:14 PM.