*This picture comes up when you google “Vanderbilt funny.” IDK what it has to do with Vandy, but I got a kick out of it. Maybe it means they think their season will be a can of worms?*
November 13 – Vanderbilt
While Kentucky hasn’t exactly been an SEC powerhouse over the years, no team has been the perennial SEC east doormat quite like the Vanderbilt Commodores. Much like the Wildcats, the Commodores have done a decent job of playing out of conference teams while struggling against some of the best programs in the country that show up on their schedule every year. Kentucky has had success against Vandy recently, including their 24-13 win last year. During that game, the Wildcats relied on stars Derrick Locke and Randall Cobb to fuel them with a combined 344 all-purpose yards. This year the Commodores will be trying to rebuild after losing head coach of the past eight years Bobby Johnson. Johnson abruptly retired July 14th leaving Offensive Line coach Robbie Caldwell to act as interim head coach until a replacement is found. The game will be played as a Kentucky home game in Lexington this year despite last years contest in Nashville feeling like a home game too with the stadium predominantly colored blue.
Kentucky will lose if…..
The Wildcats don’t take the Commodores seriously. They may have lost their coach, but they are still an SEC team with SEC caliber athletes. Wide Receiver John Cole hails from Somerset, KY and wasn’t really recruited by Kentucky. He has emerged as one of the top playmakers for Vanderbilt and will look to exact some revenge for being overlooked by his home state team. Sophomore Warren Norman is the reigning SEC freshman of the year and will be hard for the Kentucky defense to contain. The Commodores will field a small but fast defense that will give the Wildcats headaches. If Kentucky is caught looking ahead to their open date the following week, this Vanderbilt team can come in and upset the Wildcats in their own place.
Why Kentucky will win…..
The Commodores are reeling. They are replacing their head coach and several starters from the 2009 season. The team was likely to depend heavily on a running game that featured Warren Norman and star recruit Rajaan Bennett before Bennett was tragically murdered this spring. Now the Commodores will have one more hole to fill offensively. Offensive tackle Tom Welch will be hard to replace, as will corner Myron Lewis. The Commodores will probably rely on true freshmen a little more than they would like to, and who even knows how many of them will remain at Vandy now that Johnson has retired? The Kentucky O-Line should have little trouble overpowering the smaller Vanderbilt D-Line, who’s largest player is only 290 pounds. The Wildcats running backs are in for a big day against Vandy’s smaller front seven and Derrick Locke could have a career day. The passing game should flourish against a defense that struggled to get to the Quarterback last year, failing to notch a sack against the Wildcats last year. The defensive backs should struggle to cover the faster Kentucky receivers, leaving the possibility for the big play open. Defensively, the Wildcats can focus on shutting down Warren Norman. Returning QB Larry Smith struggled to throw the ball to the correct team last year throwing only four touchdowns to seven interceptions and while he should improve, it’s unlikely that he’ll pose a serious threat through the air by the time they come to Lexington. The Vandy O-Line is big but inexperienced on the ends. Both projected starting tackles will be sophomores and both can anticipate getting plenty of pressure from the UK defensive ends. When the pressure comes, the Kentucky defensive backfield can sit and wait for the opportunity to pick off a few passes.
While the Commodores are a SEC team and should be treated as such, this will not be one of the better teams that Vanderbilt has fielded in the past few years. If Kentucky comes into this game and takes care of business, the Commodores should be fairly easy to dispose of. The Wildcats will be the better team and will be playing at home. If the players execute the game plan, this one should be a massacre. Once the Cats get the ‘Dores out of the way, it’s on to the bye week before taking on Tennessee.
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