The Final Prep: Previewing Kentucky at Vanderbilt

by: Drew Franklin2 hours agoDrewFranklinKSR

stoops-clark-lea — Sep 23, 2023; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops and Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Clark Lea meet after a game at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

Kentucky Football heads to Nashville riding its first real momentum surge in a couple of years, but with the season hanging in the balance. At 5-5, the Wildcats have fought their way back from a disastrous midseason stretch to put bowl eligibility within reach, but now comes their toughest road test since October.

Vanderbilt, meanwhile, is in the middle of an unexpected playoff push. The Commodores enter Week 13 at 8-2, ranked No. 14, and playing their final home game behind one of the nation’s most explosive offenses. It’s Senior Day, it’s a sellout, and the SEC spotlight is pointed squarely at FirstBank Stadium.

Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. Let’s get you ready for it.

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Pregame Storylines

Kentucky playing for bowl eligibility: With five wins, Kentucky needs one more in the final two weeks of the season to reach the postseason. Vanderbilt is likely the tougher of the two, but winning out to reach seven is not unreasonable. First, one more.
Vanderbilt playing to stay in the playoff hunt: Vanderbilt sits at 8-2 and No. 14 in the CFP rankings. The Commodores need to win out and get help, beginning with Saturday’s showdown against Kentucky in front of a sold-out home crowd.
Road team won the last four games: Oddly enough, the road team has won each of the last four meetings in this series. Kentucky has taken the last two in Nashville, while Vanderbilt has two straight in Lexington, including last year’s frustrating 20-13 loss for the Cats.
Six of 10 meetings decided by a TD or less: Six of the last 10 games between Kentucky and Vanderbilt have been decided by one touchdown or less. No matter the records or rankings, this series always seems to come down to a handful of plays.
Kentucky’s injury report: Kentucky is without five members of its secondary, and another is doubtful. Diego Pavia is not the QB you want to see with backups throughout the defense.
SEC Nation in Nashville: With Vanderbilt unexpectedly surging into playoff contention, SEC Nation chose Nashville as its Week 13 destination.

Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt: How to Watch/Listen

Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN (Mark Jones, Roddy Jones, and Quint Kessenich)
Local Radio: UK Sports Network (Tom Leach, Jeff Piecoro, Dick Gabriel)
AM: 840 WHAS, 630 WLAP
FM: 98.1 WBUL
Online: iHeart Radio
Sirius XM: 390

Player Spotlight

Kentucky QB, #8 Cutter Boley: The freshman is coming off his best two-game stretch of the season. Against Florida, he played efficient, turnover-controlled football, going 18-for-23 for 168 yards, two touchdowns, and just one interception in Kentucky’s most complete SEC win of the year. He followed it with an even sharper performance against Tennessee Tech, going 18-for-21 for 236 yards and a touchdown while sitting out most of the fourth quarter. Boley has found his rhythm and his confidence, and Kentucky is a different team because of him.
Kentucky WR, #1 Kendrick Law: Law turned in his best game as a Wildcat last week, posting 11 catches for 124 yards against Tennessee Tech, both career highs. As Kentucky’s most reliable chain-mover, Law has become Boley’s go-to target. He’ll need to be heavily involved once again against a Vanderbilt defense that gives up explosive passing plays and has struggled to limit yards after the catch.
Kentucky CB, #30 Grant Grayton: You may be wondering how a true freshman with limited experience made the list. Grayton is here because Kentucky’s secondary is depleted, and the three-star recruit from Maryland will likely make his first start out of necessity. He’s played in four games and had his first career interception against Georgia.
Vanderbilt QB, #2 Diego Pavia: It’s Senior Day for one of the best Vanderbilt quarterbacks ever. Pavia enters his final home game with career-best efficiency, completing 70% of his passes with 28 total touchdowns on the season. He’s fresh off back-to-back 300-yard passing performances that kept Vanderbilt in shootouts, and he runs one of the most unusual and effective systems in college football.
Vanderbilt RB, #22 Makhilyn Young: Young is one of the SEC’s most efficient backs, averaging 10 yards per carry for Vandy. He’s dangerous when he gets to the second level, so Kentucky’s front needs to get him down.
Vanderbilt PS, #9 Eli Stowers: Stowers is the star of Vanderbilt’s passing attack. The former New Mexico State standout is Pavia’s top target, leading the team in receptions (51) and yards (669) as a matchup nightmare in the middle of the field. If Kentucky can’t slow him down, Vanderbilt’s offense becomes almost impossible to stop.

Availability Reports

KENTUCKY – OUT

WR Troy Stellato
OLB Sam Greene
CB DJ Waller Jr.
CB Jantzen Dunn
CB Nasir Addison
RB Jamarion Wilcox
DB Jaden Smith
DB Jordan Lovett
LB Devin Smith
OL Aba Selm
WR David Washington Jr.
TE Elijah Brown
OL Malachi Wood

DOUBTFUL

CB Terhyon Nichols

QUESTIONABLE

LB Alex Afari Jr.
DL Kahlil Saunders

VANDERBILT – OUT

DL Yilanan Ouattara
QB Drew Dickey
RB Chase Gillespie
DB Vanzale Hinton
DL Nikhil Jefferson

Last Meeting / All-Time Series

Coming off a bye week for the Wildcats, Kentucky and Vanderbilt met last November in Lexington, where the Commodores handed the Wildcats a frustrating 20-13 loss. Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia threw two touchdown passes, including a back-breaker with 13 seconds left in the first half.

Brock Vandagriff’s late touchdown throw to Dane Key cut the deficit to one score, but Kentucky’s mistakes piled up, finishing with 12 penalties and two disastrous special-teams errors that swung the game. Vanderbilt controlled the middle portion of the night with three straight scoring drives and never trailed, securing back-to-back SEC wins for the first time since 2022, and back-to-back wins on Kentucky’s home turf.

All-time series: Kentucky leads 48-44-4

2025 Team Schedules/Results

Kentucky (5-5, 2-5 SEC)

vs. Toledo (W, 24-16)
vs. #20 Ole Miss. (L, 30-23)
vs. Eastern Michigan (W, 48-23)
at South Carolina (L, 35-13)
at #12 Georgia (L, 35-14)
vs. #21 Texas (L, 16-13 OT)
vs. #17 Tennessee (L, 56-34)
at Auburn (W, 10-3)
vs. Florida (W, 38-7)
vs. Tennessee Tech (W, 42-10)
at #14 Vanderbilt
at Louisville

#14 Vanderbilt (8-2, 4-2 SEC)

vs. Charleston Southern (W, 45-3)
@ Virginia Tech (W, 44-20)
@ #11 South Carolina (W, 31-7)
vs. Georgia State (W, 70-21)
vs. Utah State (W, 55-35)
@ #10 Alabama (L, 30-14)
vs. #10 LSU (W, 31-24)
vs. #15 Missouri (W, 17-10)
@ #20 Texas (L, 34-31)
vs. Auburn (W, 45-38)
vs. Kentucky
@ #20 Tennessee

Join The Discussion over at KSBoard

Consider joining the conversation on KSBoard to interact with the KSR crew during the game. A live discussion can be found in the game thread, plus several other topics and conversations about the Wildcats and more.