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It’s Thursday afternoon here on the WBN and that can only mean that it’s time for another edition of “The Edge,” our weekly breakdown of position-by-position comparisons for the football Wildcats. This week Vandy hobbles into Commonwealth to take on the Cats for senior day.
QUARTERBACK
Despite what you may have initially thought, this one is a little closer than it probably should be. Vanderbilt quarterback Larry Smith has quietly had the best year of his (albeit previously un-spectacular) career. He’s only thrown four interceptions on the season, which is actually only one less than Hartline nearly threw against Georgia. He’s also contributing just over 21 yards a game on the ground. While Kentucky’s Mike Hartline has cooled on the pace he set against Auburn and South Carolina, he is still in a different league than Smith and I would bet that almost every coach in the country would pick Mike if given the choice. Keep an eye on Smith though, as athletic quarterbacks seem to be the UK defense’s Achilles heel.
The Edge: KENTUCKY
RUNNING BACK
The two teams could fill a floor in Central Baptist with injured rushers. Vanderbilt has lost starter and star running back Warren Norman for the season to a wrist injury, and then lost backup Zac Stacy for the year to a concussion against Florida last week. Then reserve Wesley Tate suffered an ankle injury and is currently considered doubtful for Saturday’s game. The Commodores look like they’ll be starting Kennard Reeves (77 yards for the season) with Micah Powell as his backup. Powell doesn’t have any rushing statistics for the year…because he’s been playing for the defense until this week. It’s seriously that bad. Kentucky is in much better shape with Starter Derrick Locke and backups Raymond Sanders and Donald Russell all being upgraded to probable for the game. This one might be the easiest call of the year thus far.
The Edge: KENTUCKY
WIDE RECEIVER
It might miff a lot of fans that Vanderbilt’s top wide receiver is a Kentuckian that was never offered by the Cats. But to put things into perspective really quickly, John Cole has 17 catches for 224 yards and one touchdown on the season. He is still one yard behind Derrick Locke in receiving yards despite Locke having not participated in the past four games. Chris Matthews has as many touchdown catches as the entire Vandy offense combined. Matthews and Cobb have combined for 1,498 receiving yards this year, or 282 more than the entire Vanderbilt offense. Kentucky fullback Moncell Allen would actually be tied for second for the most receiving touchdowns this year (two) if he were a Commodore. Vandy tight end Brandon Barden has been very good this year, but he isn’t enough to overcome the anemic production of his teammates.
The Edge: KENTUCKY
OFFENSIVE LINE
The Vanderbilt offense is actually a very balanced attack. The Commodores are averaging 132 yards rushing a game and 135 yards passing a game. The only problem is, those aren’t very good numbers. By comparison, the Wildcats are rushing for an average of 150 yards a game and passing for an average of 278 yards per contest. Perhaps the most telling statistic is the number of sacks each team has surrendered with Vanderbilt allowing 25 sacks on the year were Kentucky has only allowing 14. The Commodore offense has struggled this year and the offensive line can shoulder a lot of the blame.
The Edge: KENTUCKY
DEFENSIVE LINE
Picking the better unit between these two teams is like trying to decide whether you’d rather have your left leg or your right leg sawed off with a butter knife. Both teams have really struggled to get to the quarterback and are allowing opponents to rush for over 175 yards per game. I’ll be frank here and tell you that I’m picking the Wildcats because one of Vanderbilt’s most productive players is currently listed as doubtful for the upcoming game. The Wildcats really haven’t earned this one though.
The Edge: KENTUCKY
LINEBACKER
This match up is like the clash of the titans. Vanderbilt’s Chris Marve has been a beast this year and is one of the SEC’s most underrated players. Kentucky linebacker Danny Trevathan has been a force of nature and has pretty much single-handedly held together the sinking ship that is the Wildcat defense. Neither guy has had a ton of support from their teammates, though Vandy’s John Stokes has contributed more than the next best Wildcat. Realistically here, Trevathan has to be the SEC’s most underrated defensive player and has played at a significantly higher level than anyone he’s faced.
The Edge: KENTUCKY
DEFENSIVE BACKS
At first glance, you might be tempted to hand this match up to the Commodores based on the fact that starting corner Casey Hayward has more interceptions (5) than the entire Kentucky defensive backfield combined (4). But not so fast, there’s more to the story. Vanderbilt is sacrificing 241 passing yards per game to opponents, and the defensive backs are being forced to stop the run too often with defensive backs coming in as 4 of the top 6 tacklers on the team. Kentucky’s defense is only allowing 165 yards a game through the air, but DBs are also being called upon to make too many tackles with the Cats also having 4 of the top 6 tacklers lining up in the defensive backfield. But then when you factor in that the Kentucky defensive backs are blowing tackles and assignments against teams like Charleston Southern, and that the Wildcats are being so viciously attacked on the ground that teams don’t even have to try to throw, and the balance sways out of reach.
The Edge: VANDERBILT
SPECIAL TEAMS
The Cats and Dores have very similar kick and punt return numbers with Kentucky having a razor thin edge. Punting has been neck and neck too despite Vanderbilt punting the ball more often with the Commodores holding less than a one-yard advantage in net punting average. Kentucky holds a sizable advantage in field goals with McIntosh booting 88% and Vanderbilt only having attempted 4 field goals all year (making 3). Vanderbilt’s coverage teams eek out Kentucky’s by less than two yards per return, and they allow 3.9 fewer yards per punt return. In the end, Kentucky gets this one based solely on Craig McIntosh’s leg, because you don’t want a guy who’s only attempted 4 field goals on the year trying to win the game for you.
The Edge: KENTUCKY
COACHING
Vanderbilt coach Robbie Caldwell has a knack for making some funny headlines and giving people something to talk about. He exudes confidence and has is now in his eighth year on the Vanderbilt staff. All that considered, he has overseen a really bad team that has suffered some pretty lopsided losses this year. Joker Phillips has caught the ire of some of the Kentucky fans for not living up to the expectations he set forth, but the Wildcats have been in every game this year except the Florida contest and managed to hang with Auburn down to the final seconds of the game. Joker is putting a better product on the field right now.
The Edge: KENTUCKY
The Wildcats may be the favorites at home against the Commodores, but don’t sleep on Vandy. Somehow they always manage to come in and play Kentucky closer than they should and they’ve made some noise in years were the talent gap was far wider than it was this year. That being said, I think the Cats will come out and make a statement after playing poorly in what should have been an easy win over Charleston Southern. Kentucky can afford to give this game their all after getting a bye week to rest the following weekend before going to Tennessee to take on the Vols.
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