The Sports Xchange
Nov 14, 2015
A combination of timely defensive plays by Vanderbilt and mistakes by Kentucky helped the Commodores record their second Southeastern Conference win of the year with a 21-17 victory at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., on Saturday afternoon.
Ralph Webb rushed for 113 yards on 33 carries for the Commodores (4-6, 1-4). Safety Oren Burks had two interceptions and returned one for a touchdown.
Stanley "Boom" Williams rushed for 115 yards on 13 carries for the Wildcats (4-6, 2-5). The loss was the fifth straight for Kentucky.
The Wildcats trailed by 11 points at the half and inched closer on JoJo Kemp's 2-yard scoring run with 1:06 left in the third quarter, but were unable to get any closer.
Kentucky led early on Austin MacGinnis's 39-yard field goal, but came away with nothing after a first-and-goal from the Vanderbilt 1-yard line later in the quarter after a fourth-down stop of quarterback Patrick Towles by linebacker Stephen Weatherly.
Late in the first quarter, Commodore defensive end Caleb Azubike stripped running back Williams of the ball and the Commodores recovered at the Kentucky 4. Vanderbilt quarterback Kyle Shurmur hit tight end Kyle Anderton with a 4-yard scoring pass.
Vanderbilt's Darrius Sims fumbled a punt that Kentucky recovered at the Commodores' 3 but Towles' second-down throw was tipped by cornerback Torren McGaster, and picked off by Burks.
With 10:23 left before half, Towles' replacement, quarterback Drew Barker, hit wide receiver Ryan Timmons with a 7-yard strike to put Kentucky ahead 10-7.
Barker was later picked by Burks, who raced 30 yards for a second-quarter score.
With under a minute left in the half, the Wildcats forgot to cover Vanderbilt wide receiver Caleb Scott to the far left side of the field. Shurmur found him for a 37-yard score and the Commodores led 21-10 at half.