A week both tragic and unfair ends with something good for Kentucky football
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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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After a week of an unfathomable loss, Kentucky football just needed a win.
That was the main thing Saturday in Kentucky’s 38-35 victory over Vanderbilt at Kroger Field: trying to find something good in something so bad and unfair, something none of us — much less a group of young men from 18 to 22 years old — are meant to understand.
To be sure, John Schlarman’s family — wife LeeAnne and their four young children — suffered a tragic loss Thursday when UK’s offensive line coach passed away at the far-too-early age of 45 after a courageous two-year battle with cancer. But Kentucky football suffered a team loss, as well, because Schlarman was a member of its family, both as a former player and a coach, not just a coach of his own position players, but a coach for every player.
“Ask anybody on the team, no matter the position,” Landon Young, UK’s senior offensive tackle, said Saturday, “everybody loved Coach Schlarman.”
And it was that love that led to this: “It was extremely important for us to come away with a victory today,” UK Coach Mark Stoops said.
And so they did just that.
Aside from the Ole Miss game in week two, the UK offense turned in its best showing of the year, averaging 8.3 yards per play on just 55 plays. The Cats rushed for 308 yards behind Schlarman’s offensive line and, after using the bye week to concentrate on reviving a dormant air attack, threw for 150 more.
After missing the 14-3 loss to Georgia on Oct. 31, quarterback Terry Wilson returned to not just the lineup but his 2018 form. The senior was decisive in his decisions, accurate in his throws. He finished the afternoon 13 of 15 for 110 yards with two touchdowns. He also showed his 2018 bursts of speed, using just seven carries to rush for 83 yards, including a 32-yard touchdown.
Running back Chris Rodriguez, known more for his bullish runs between the tackles, broke loose for a 74-yard touchdown run on the way to a career-high 149 yards on 13 carries.
UK’s receivers, much maligned for most of the season, made plays. The Cats’ 16 completions were spread among 10 players, led by DeMarcus Harris’ four grabs for 33 yards. Tight ends Justin Rigg and Keaton Upshaw each caught touchdown passes from Wilson. Riggs’ catch covered 15 yards for the game’s first score. Upshaw’s 21-yard reception put the Cats ahead 21-7.
“I just wish we could have given them more opportunities,” said Stoops, who was obviously less than pleased with his defense, of which he said, “We made very few competitive plays.”
We can dissect that another day. On this day, the good was what mattered for a team that has dealt with so much bad this season, from COVID-19, to the absence of linebacker Chris Oats for undisclosed medical reasons, to the overtime loss against Ole Miss to the flat performance and loss at Missouri. Sitting 2-4 heading into the bye week was not where this team wanted to be.
To then be without its offensive line coach was something else entirely, a loss that goes beyond football. Kudos to Vanderbilt Coach Derek Mason. When told by Stoops that Kentucky planned to take a delay of game penalty — with a spot at guard left open to honor Schlarman, Mason replied, “We’re going to decline the penalty.”
There is a tough road ahead, of course. There is no guarantee the SEC schedule will remain the same, but if it does Kentucky will be at West Division leader Alabama next Saturday, then SEC East leader Florida the Saturday after that. Difficult games, yes, but they can’t be any more difficult than what these kids have gone through this week.
“It’s been a tough week,” Wilson said.
It might be small consolation, but at least it ended with a win.
This story was originally published November 14, 2020 at 5:48 PM.
