With last week’s victory over Missouri, Kentucky football will be making a bowl trip for the seventh straight season. Now the goal for the Wildcats—other than the continued quest for national respect—is a warmer, nicer destination. Like maybe Tampa, site of the ReliaQuest (formerly Outback) Bowl. Kentucky played there on New Year’s Day 1999, in Tim Couch’s final game as UK QB.
But the Wildcats could well end up in slushy Memphis for the Liberty Bowl or Nashville for the Music City Bowl if they fail to take care of business against Vanderbilt this week and Louisville two weeks from now. Yes, Georgia falls in between and unless the Bulldogs miss their flight to Lexington, that looks like a tall mountain to climb. But an 8-4 season would very likely slate the Wildcats into Tampa against a Big Ten foe.
The good news is that Vanderbilt is a deeply troubled football program. Coach Clark Lea’s Commodores have lost 25 conference games in a row. Incidentally, the Commodores are the only current SEC program to have compiled a 20-game SEC losing streak… and this is their third such streak in the last 30 years.
Freshman QB AJ Swann, who has been a highlight for Vandy, will miss the game with Kentucky due to injury. Vanderbilt’s team reportedly was struggling with the flu earlier in the week. Frankly, Kentucky should be in good shape.
Which is a nice time for such a game. Will Levis is obviously pretty beaten up and UK would love to get another win without exposing Levis to very many hits. That probably means it’s time to look for a big game from senior running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. Rodriguez is ninth in the SEC in rushing despite missing the first four games of 2022 due to suspension. He is likely to have a busy Saturday afternoon.
Kentucky’s defense has continually been a bright spot. While Vanderbilt is solid in both running and passing—and in Swann’s absence will be playing dual-threat QB Mike Wright—as long as the Wildcat defense is prepared, it should be fine.
It’s not a Kentucky team that delivers many blowouts and many games in this series tend to be closer than expected. But this one lines up well for the Wildcats.
UK 34, Vanderbilt 10
Other SEC Predictions:
Tennessee 38, Missouri 17
LSU 38, Arkansas 20
Alabama 31, Ole Miss 28
Florida 34, South Carolina 21
Georgia 38, Mississippi State 6
Texas A&M 22, Auburn 21
Joe Cox is contributing editor for KySportsStyle.com Magazine. He grew up in Letcher County and Bell County and has written or co-written nine books. His most recent, "A Fine Team Man: Jackie Robinson and the Lives He Changed," was released in February 2019 and can be ordered on Amazon or at many local bookstores. Joe is an attorney and lives in Logan County with his wife and children. You can reach him at jrcox004@gmail.com.
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