Here Come the 'Dores

This may or may not be Matt Elam reviewing Vandy film.   Is it just me, or has it been about six months since the Cats last played a football game? After a trip to Gainesville, which produced a heart-wrenching, yet ultimately encouraging overtime defeat, Cat fans have been forced to suffer through two agonizing weeks devoid of football. Saturday, at long last, we are granted relief in the form of a home game with the Vanderbilt Commodores.  Going into the season, most pundits would have predicted a relatively decisive Vandy victory over the Cats. What a difference a few weeks and an emphatic home bludgeoning at the hands of Temple make in how a match-up is perceived. Kentucky is now the prohibitive favorite, as attested by the Vegas line, which has been bet up to 17 points.  The Wildcats now finds themselves in the rare position of being favored in a Southeastern Conference football game.  How Kentucky responds to that expectation may determine the outcome of Saturday's game, which the Cats need desperately for a variety of reasons. Historically, a win over the Commodores is essential to any opportunity for post-season play for the Cats.  Kentucky has played in fifteen bowl games in its history.  Only twice have the Cats lost to Vanderbilt, and gone on to play in a bowl game.  Quite simply, there just aren't enough other wins on the schedule to lose to the 'Dores, and reach the minimum requirements for a bowl berth.  To keep that dream alive, Kentucky needs to win on Saturday. We owe these guys.  Sadly, the Cats have fallen on three consecutive occasions to the Commodores.  Even more depressingly, Kentucky has been defeated in this trilogy of despair by a combined score of 100 to 14.  The 2012 game stands as possibly the lowest point of the Joker Phillips era, when a Commonwealth crowd mostly comprised of friends and family watched as Vanderbilt defeated the Cats 40-0.  Actual attendance on that dismal November day was reported to be under 20,000.  Suicide by jumping off the back of the stadium would have been an obvious concern had there been a solitary soul in the upper deck.  Phillips was fired the following day.  Last season, in a much more competitive game in Nashville, former Vanderbilt coach James Franklin drew the ire of Mark Stoops by calling a pass play to score a touchdown with less than a minute remaining in a game already secured by Vanderbilt.  Though Franklin has since abandoned the sinking Commodore vessel for happier valleys, Stoops and company have not forgotten that otherwise meaningless score.  In short, Vanderbilt, of all teams, has heaped misery on the football Cats in unreasonable doses in recent years.  Saturday is Kentucky's opportunity to return the favor.   Kentucky has not won an SEC game in a long, long time.  2011 was a simpler time in America.  Martin Lawrence was teaching America to laugh again with the uproarious comedy Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son.  American Idol was launching the star that would revolutionize pop music in Scotty McCreery.  In Lexington, a journeyman wide receiver named Matt Roark was quarterbacking the Cats to an improbable victory against a bitter rival and a confused man with really orange pants.  That victory, which occurred in November of 2011, was the last time the Cats checked the win column in Southeastern Conference play.  Saturday, nearly three years and 17 losses later, Kentucky needs to discard this albatross of a conference losing streak. The Cats need this game.  For revenge, for bowl eligibility and for continued program momentum.  They also need a true home field advantage.  One thing we fans have always bragged about is our loyalty to the Cats.  And now, we seem finally on the verge of being rewarded with entertaining and competitive football.  Cat fans can make a difference this Saturday.  Vandy is a young team that has not played on the road.  The Commodores have played 31 true and redshirt freshmen this season, and will likely start a freshman quarterback. A rowdy Commonwealth, especially when the Cats are on defense, will surely rattle the young 'Dores. Kentucky coaches and players have been out in mass this week imploring the BBN to pack Commonwealth.  Don't let those guys down. Show up.  Be loud. Help the Cats secure this much needed win.