Today was a disaster. Next week matters a lot more.

Kentucky took a beating in Nashville today, and by the time you’re reading this, you’ve probably already scrolled through everything our crew at Vanderbilt had to say about it. We’ve covered the ugly. We’ve closed the book on it. There’s nothing left to say about a game that was over the moment it started.

Let’s talk about something that matters now: the Governor’s Cup.

Kentucky’s season officially comes down to one game next Saturday in Louisville. Win, and the Cats go to a bowl. Lose, and it’s back-to-back years without a postseason and back-to-back losses to Louisville, this time with Louisville reeling into the rivalry game.

Sure, today sucked, and Kentucky’s injury report is a major concern. Still, Kentucky has every reason to believe it can go reclaim the Governor’s Cup.

Louisville is a mess right now. The Cardinals were blown out 38–6 by SMU today, their third straight loss. Their quarterback, Miller Moss, spent last week publicly calling out the locker room before missing today’s game due to a foot injury. Jeff Brohm’s offense is lost. The fanbase is dejected. This is not a confident team riding into rivalry week. They had playoff dreams not long ago.

Kentucky, even with today’s implosion at Vandy, has more momentum entering the final game of the regular season. The Cats won three straight games before Nashville. The defense had been excellent for three weeks when healthy. Cutter Boley and the young talent around him ignited a struggling offense. The program isn’t crumbling from the inside the way Louisville is.

A redemption game

Louisville beat Kentucky 41–14 in Lexington last season. They beat Kentucky in basketball earlier this month, which was a scheduling change that should be illegal. And this is the first time Mark Stoops will face Vince Marrow since the biggest staff departure in the Stoops era. Marrow spent over a decade at Stoops’ side, helped build the foundation of Kentucky Football, and then left for Louisville over the summer. They grew up together in Youngstown. They built this thing together. And now they meet on opposite sidelines with a bowl berth on the line for Stoops.

Next weekend is also personal for Boley. Kentucky entered last year’s Governor’s Cup already eliminated from bowl contention with four wins, and Boley’s rivalry debut ended with him getting benched. Now he returns as the unquestioned QB1 with a chance at full-circle redemption, like he got against Florida two weeks ago. He can rewrite his Governor’s Cup story.

Yes, today was bad. But now it’s over. We won’t ignore it, but we’re not dwelling on it, either. Kentucky can still reach a bowl game, swing a rivalry, build momentum into the offseason, and give the Big Blue Nation some bragging rights. It’s all still on the table next Saturday in Louisville.

Beat Louisville, and this season ends with a pulse. Lose, and it ends with a thud. Either way, the Governor’s Cup will define how 2025 is remembered. I told you we’d be in this situation back in August. Now it’s here.