Psst, UK football fans: You are watching an individual effort for the ages
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Game day: Kentucky at Vanderbilt
Click below to view more of Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s 38-14 University of Kentucky football victory over Vanderbilt at Nashville, Tenn.
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If only Lynn Bowden could have scored a touchdown on that fourth-and-goal against Tennessee.
If he had led the Kentucky Wildcats to a rare victory over the Rocky Toppers, the “wide receiver playing quarterback” would have secured status as a UK football icon.
That Bowden was stopped short of victory against UT should not obscure a larger truth: What the product of gritty Youngstown, Ohio, is doing in 2019 is remarkable.
“It really is,” UK Coach Mark Stoops said. “You really have to give (Bowden) the credit he deserves. What he is doing is not easy.”
Kentucky (5-5, 3-5 SEC) moved within one win Saturday of earning earning bowl eligibility for a fourth straight season.
On a day when the Wildcats might have been ripe for a letdown, they instead climbed out of a 14-3 deficit to punish struggling Vanderbilt (2-8, 1-6 SEC) 38-14 before a Big Blue-heavy crowd of 23,288 at Vanderbilt Stadium.
Stoops was all but beaming over the fact that UK, off last week’s gut-wrenching 17-13 loss to UT, did not end up playing flat in Nashville.
“Really proud of our team, top to bottom,” Stoops said. “Proud of our coaches. To bounce back, we faced some adversity last week. A tough game. Sometimes that can linger. (This time), it didn’t.”
Kentucky carried the day behind a relentless rushing attack. Redshirt freshmen backs Chris Rodriguez (129 yards and two touchdowns) and Kavosiey Smoke (95 yards and a TD plus an electric 28-yard gain on a third-and-26 screen pass) had star turns as UK ran for a robust 401 yards.
Yet the straw stirring UK’s drink as it has been for the past five games was Bowden.
The 6-foot-1, 199-pound junior ran for 110 yards and a score and completed eight of 10 passes for 104 yards and a TD.
It was also the wide receiver playing quarterback who was making the option reads that helped set Rodriguez and Smoke free.
“It’s not just some athlete back there making plays (purely on athleticism),” Stoops said of Bowden. “He’s understanding (how to play QB), the reads and the things he’s executing.”
Saying that Bowden has saved the Kentucky season is not too strong.
Since he became UK’s emergency QB five games ago, he’s directed the Wildcats to a 3-2 mark (that, darned that Tennessee hex, is so close to being 4-1).
In those five starts, Bowden has now run for 196 yards (Arkansas), 99 yards (Georgia), 204 yards (Missouri), 114 yards (Tennessee) and 110 (Vandy).
During the first weeks of this experiment, I kept predicting the law of diminishing returns would take hold the longer Bowden stayed at QB. It is true that Tennessee in the second half found a plan to slow him.
Nevertheless, for five games, teams have basically known Kentucky is set up to rely heavily on the run.
Yet, for five games, Bowden has been able to run the ball.
“Our coaching and our (offensive) line determine that,” Bowden said. “You can know right now I am going to run, but you’ve still got to beat me there.”
Standing amidst a postgame gaggle of reporters, Bowden smiled.
“If I took off right now, could you catch me?” he said.
Uh, no, Lynn.
Against a woeful Vanderbilt defense, Bowden was also able to do what he could not against Tennessee.
At least keep the opponent honest through the air.
Included in the eight passes he completed was a 14-yard TD toss to Josh Ali that was the third of three straight completions as UK ended the first half running its two-minute drill.
“Huge, I think, for (its impact) on our next few games,” Kentucky offensive coordinator Eddie Gran said. “To get some (throws for first downs) and him to be able to do that, it was huge for us moving forward.”
Vanderbilt, of course, is a bad team.
But subpar Vandy teams playing in half-empty stadiums on chilly November days have foiled many a prior Kentucky football season.
This time, even after spotting Vanderbilt a 14-3 lead, UK didn’t let that happen.
Just like the Wildcats have not let two notable missed opportunities (named Florida and Tennessee) and the adversity of losing their top two quarterbacks to injury take their season off the rails.
“Our year right now is a roller coaster, ups and downs,” Bowden said. “Through it all, we’re just fighting, just gonna keep fighting.”
One more regular-season win next Saturday against OVC foe Tennessee Martin would secure a postseason opportunity for the Cats.
Two more regular-season wins, over UTM and Louisville, would mean both a bowl trip and keeping the Governor’s Cup in Lexington for a second straight season.
All of that is possible largely due to a the individual effort in the second half of this season by Lynn Bowden.
“You put it all together, it’s pretty remarkable what he is doing,” Stoops said.
This story was originally published November 16, 2019 at 9:03 PM.
