GAME SNAPSHOT
KICKOFF: Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET
SITE: Kroger Field, Lexington, Ky.
TV: SEC Network
SERIES: Kentucky leads 44-42-4. Kentucky won the last meeting 44-21 in 2017.
RANKINGS: Kentucky No. 14
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Commodores
–QB Kyle Shurmur hasn’t played to his potential for four consecutive games. The senior continues to get flustered by pressure, and a multitude of drops have contributed to a 58.7 completion percentage. Shurmur has thrown for 1,629 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions.
–WR Kalija Lipscomb has 49 catches for 560 yards and six touchdowns, and ranks second in the SEC in catches.
–ILB Jordan Griffin had a career-high 18 tackles last week, 10 solo. He’s second in the SEC with 9.7 stops per game, and second overall with 37 solo stops.
–ILB Dimitri Moore ranks third on the team in tackles. Moore, a redshirt freshman, has started the last five games and rarely comes off the field.
Wildcats
–RB Benny Snell will be looking to rebound from rushing for a season-low 60 yards on 13 carries in the 20-14 loss at Texas A&M. He also had four receptions for 18 yards. Snell has rushed for 699 yards for the season with eight touchdowns. “Benny is rock-steady every week,” coach Mark Stoops said. “You know what you’re going to get, and we need him to have a strong game here this week.”
–LB Josh Allen has the ability to wreck an opponent’s offense behind the line of scrimmage. He has a team-best 10.5 tackles for loss with 6.0 sacks. His 1.0 per-game sack average is tied for 10th in the country among FBS defenders.
–S Darius West had a big game against the Aggies, leading the Wildcats with 10 tackles, returning a fumble 40 yards for a touchdown and intercepting a pass. He leads Kentucky in tackles with 47. “He’s kind of one of those guys that when he talks, people listen to him,” Stoops said. “He doesn’t talk all the time, and when he speaks, he kind of has that, he has an edge about him and an attitude.”
KEYS
TO THE GAME
No. 14 Kentucky may be facing a Vanderbilt team that has lost four of its last five games, but it isn’t catching the Commodores in a “down” mood.
Kickoff at Kroger Field in Lexington, Ky., for the Southeastern Conference East matchup is 7:30 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.
The Wildcats (4-1, 3-1 SEC) are coming off an open date while the Commodores (3-4, 0-3 SEC) lost their last outing to Florida 37-27 after building an early 21-3 lead. Earlier this season, the Commodores were within a play or two of knocking off Notre Dame in South Bend before losing 22-17.
“The toughest thing we’re tasked with right now is that we’re so close,” Vandy coach Derek Mason said, “and when you’re close sometimes, with the things that are happening to you, you say you’ve got to stay the course.”
They apparently have gained the respect of Kentucky coach Mark Stoops.
“I really have a lot of respect for Derek and what he does and how he coaches, and you see a team that is very hungry that plays very hard,” Stoops said. “Well coached, and they are just looking for that breakthrough.
“They really had a great opportunity to beat Notre Dame, and then they had a great opportunity against Florida, two very, very good football teams. You see what they are capable of, and so Vandy is a good team and they are hungry. They play hard. We’re going to have to play very good football.”
The Wildcats lost their last outing 20-14 in overtime at Texas A&M, but not only gained four spots in the latest rankings while sitting idle last weekend but now find themselves as one of three SEC East teams with one loss after Georgia’s defeat at LSU.
But Stoops doesn’t want his players thinking about the SEC race at this point.
“With the bye being at the sixth week, right in the middle of the season, we’re going to be one week at a time,” he said. “You know that I’ve said that all year.”
Taking “one game at a time” is hardly a novel approach for a coach to take, but Stoops says his veterans have the background to deal with it.
“Our guys have been around,” Stoops said. “They have experience. They have been through this. They understand what is in front of them and not to look too far ahead.”
The Wildcats will be trying to recoup some of their running game against a Vandy defense that has given up 521 yards rushing to Georgia and Florida its last two outings. Kentucky rushed for only 70 yards in the loss to Texas A&M, with junior Benny Snell held to 60.
Stoops is confident that Snell will bounce back.
“Benny is rock-steady every week,” Stoops said. “You know what you’re going to get, and we need him to have a strong game here this week.”
Mason compared Snell to former Georgia running back Nick Chubb, who rushed for 1,345 yards in leading the Bulldogs to the 2017 SEC title.
“It’s always a combination of size, balance and speed,” Mason said. “You look at backs who are built like that and run the way he runs, it’s hard to bring him down.”
Vandy got some good news this week with the word that running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn is expected to play. Vaughn had a 43-yard run and a 75-yard touchdown reception against Florida last week before leaving with an unspecified injury.
“He is explosive,” Stoops said. “He is extremely fast. He is a guy that, he is just a good player. He really is. He is really fast and explosive.
“Talked to a few people who have played him and they say that as fast as he looks on film he is faster in person. So that means that definitely you can you feel him on the field.”
