Blue Preview: Your guide to Kentucky’s football game at Vanderbilt
Kentucky at Vanderbilt
When: 3:30 p.m. (EST) Saturday (Nov. 16)
Where: Vanderbilt Stadium (capacity 40,550)
TV: SEC Network (play-by-play, Taylor Zarzour; analysis, Matt Stinchcomb; sideline, Alyssa Lang)
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1, XM Channel 190, Sirius Channel 133
Records: Kentucky (4-5, 2-5 SEC); Vanderbilt (2-7, 1-5 SEC)
Series history: Kentucky leads the all-time series 45-42-4 and has won three in a row and four of the past five meetings
Last meeting: No. 14 Kentucky beat Vanderbilt 14-7 on Oct. 20, 2018, at Kroger Field
Line: Kentucky is favored by 10 points
The story line
Two teams seeking to bounce back from very different types of disappointment will meet in Nashville in a game whose outcome is crucial to Kentucky’s bowl hopes. UK must bounce back from a crushing 17-13 defeat to Tennessee last Saturday in which the Wildcats failed to score the game-winning touchdown after having the ball first-and-goal at the UT 6-yard line in the final minutes. Vandy, meanwhile, was pummeled 56-0 at Florida in a game in which the Commodores were outgained 560 yards to 128.
The big threat
Vanderbilt running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn is one of the most dynamic runners in the Southeastern Conference. The 5-foot-10, 218-pound transfer from Illinois is fourth in the SEC with 818 yards rushing and has run for six touchdowns. A Nashville product, Vaughn is also a major threat for Derek Mason’s Commodores in the passing game. He is Vandy’s second-leading receiver with 24 catches for 248 yards and a TD.
On the spot
Mark Stoops. For the second time this season, the Kentucky head coach faces the challenge of rallying his troops after UK has suffered an unusually dispiriting defeat. In the week after UK saw a 21-10 fourth-quarter lead over Florida turn into a 29-21 loss, the Cats did not turn in a very good showing in what became a 28-13 loss to a mediocre Mississippi State team. Now, coming off the gut-wrenching defeat to Tennessee, Stoops needs to rally the Cats to take care of business in a game Kentucky needs to ensure its postseason viability.
The mood
Is glum. Kentucky football fans have experienced enough agonizing defeats to Tennessee and Florida to last 10 lifetimes. For all the good Mark Stoops has done at UK, his coaching era’s contribution to UK’s tales of woe against UT and UF is growing. However, if Kentucky could win its final three regular-season games then earn an eighth win in a bowl, the Big Blue Nation would end up feeling positively about the 2019 football season. For that to happen, Kentucky has to first pick itself up off the mat and take care of business at Vandy.
This story was originally published November 11, 2019 at 11:20 AM.
