No. 12 Kentucky Rallies Past Vanderbilt 34-17 for Sixth Straight Win and Sole Lead in the SEC

For one quarter on Saturday night, Kentucky looked like a team that had used up all of its magic. The Wildcats gained 14 yards in the opening 15 minutes at Kroger Field, trailed 10-0, and watched a Vanderbilt freshman quarterback carve them up on third down like it was a practice period.

Then the Wildcats remembered who they have been all season. No. 12 Kentucky scored the next 24 points, survived one Commodores push in the third quarter and pulled away for a 34-17 win over Vanderbilt in front of 61,843. Kentucky is 7-1 and 5-1 in the SEC. Vanderbilt fell to 3-5 and 0-5.

The result also settled a little bit of personal business. Vanderbilt beat Kentucky 45-17 last season, and the Commodores had won the last two meetings. That streak is over, and so is any argument that this Kentucky team is a fluke.

Vanderbilt owns the first quarter

The Commodores came out with a plan and executed it. Brock Taylor opened the scoring with a 30-yard field goal, and then Vanderbilt put together the kind of drive that drains a stadium: 16 plays, 95 yards and 8:55 off the clock, finished by Jared Curtis hitting Jayvontay Conner from 3 yards out. It was 10-0, and Kentucky's offense had barely touched the ball.

Curtis was terrific early. According to the Associated Press, Vanderbilt converted six of its first eight third downs. The Kentucky defense kept getting the Commodores into third-and-something and kept watching them move the chains anyway.

Three drives that flipped the night

Kentucky's answer started with 5:04 left in the second quarter. Kenny Minchey led a seven-play, 75-yard drive and finished it with a 9-yard touchdown pass to DJ Miller, cutting the deficit to 10-7. The offense that had looked lost suddenly looked very comfortable.

The Wildcats got the ball back and did it again, this time with a little creativity. Tight end Willie Rodriguez lined up in the backfield and punched in a 1-yard run with 21 seconds left in the half, capping a 13-play, 79-yard march. Kentucky went to the locker room up 14-10 after trailing by double digits.

"To be able to score those points before the half and after the half getting the ball back is great football," Minchey said. "It made a big difference in the outcome of the game."

Minchey was right about the after part, too. Kentucky took the second-half kickoff and went 75 yards in eight plays, with backup quarterback Brennen Ward scoring on a 10-yard run at the 10:35 mark of the third quarter. That made it 21-10. According to Field Level Media, the three straight touchdown drives covered just under nine and a half minutes of game clock. Vanderbilt went from controlling the game to chasing it in the span of one long halftime conversation.

The turning point: Kentucky answers the answer

Vanderbilt was not done. Facing fourth-and-short, the Commodores went for it, and Curtis found Ja'Cory Thomas for a 34-yard touchdown with 5:45 left in the third quarter. Just like that, it was 21-17, and the visitors had life again.

This is where good teams separate from teams that are just having a nice season. Kentucky did not panic, and it did not need a highlight play. Adam Zouagui hit a 47-yard field goal late in the third quarter to make it 24-17, then added a 32-yarder in the opening minute of the fourth for a 27-17 lead. Two drives, six points, and suddenly Vanderbilt needed two scores.

The defense then delivered the knockout. Ty Bryant intercepted Curtis, the fourth pick in three games for Bryant, and the Kentucky offense turned it into a touchdown. Minchey kept it himself from 1 yard out with 5:11 left to finish the scoring at 34-17.

Rodriguez explained the comeback in about as few words as possible. "That's our culture," Rodriguez said. "We're not worried about whatever's happening, whatever the score is."

The stars

Minchey was steady rather than spectacular, and that is exactly what this game needed. The Notre Dame transfer completed 19 of 26 passes for 203 yards with a touchdown through the air and another on the ground, without an interception. Kentucky did not turn the ball over at all.

Rodriguez was the most versatile player on the field. The tight end caught six passes for 67 yards and scored the touchdown that gave Kentucky its first lead. Miller added five catches for 43 yards and a score, and freshman receiver Kenny Darby led the team with four catches for 71 yards, according to Saturday Down South.

On the Vanderbilt side, Curtis deserves real credit. The freshman finished 27-of-36 for 247 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, and Junior Sherrill caught eight passes for 78 yards. Curtis just never had a running game to lean on.

The numbers that matter

Here is the stat that tells the whole story: Vanderbilt ran for 15 yards on 17 carries. The Commodores came in averaging 119 rushing yards per game, according to the AP. Once Kentucky took that away, the Vanderbilt offense became a one-man show, and the Wildcats eventually figured out how to handle the one man.

After the first quarter, the swing was enormous. The AP noted that Vanderbilt managed 120 total yards over the final three quarters. Kentucky finished with 376 yards to Vanderbilt's 262, outrushed the Commodores 173-15 and won the turnover battle 2-0 with a fumble recovery and Bryant's interception. That gives the Wildcats five takeaways in two weeks. The full numbers are in the box score (opens in a new tab).

Kentucky also controlled the clock for 31:03, which is impressive given how badly it lost the possession battle in the first quarter.

What it means

The history piles up fast with this team. Per SEC Network, the win gave Kentucky its first five-game SEC winning streak since 1977. Per Kentucky, Will Stein is the first Wildcats head coach to start 7-1 in a first season since E. R. Sweetland in 1909, which is 117 years for anyone counting. Kentucky also clinched a winning SEC record for just the third time since 1977.

And the standings are real. Kentucky moved into sole possession of first place in the SEC, a half-game ahead of No. 5 Georgia, which was idle. The AP pointed out that the Wildcats have not been this close to an SEC title since the 1976 team shared the crown with Tennessee. The only loss is a 45-17 defeat to Alabama in Week 3, and this group has already survived back-to-back 35-34 overtime wins over South Carolina and LSU.

Stein kept the focus off the record book. "I love all that stuff, but what matters is our players, really proud of them," the first-year coach said.

The schedule is about to get loud. Kentucky has a bye this week, then visits No. 11 Tennessee on Nov. 7. No. 20 Florida and No. 22 Missouri are still ahead, too, so the path to Atlanta runs through three ranked opponents.

For Vanderbilt, the season is at a crossroads. The Commodores have lost five straight and are still looking for their first conference win, with four regular-season games left. They visit Mississippi State on Nov. 7 with a talented freshman quarterback and a running game that needs to show up.

The last word

Stein summed up this group in one line. "Their toughness, their fight and being a good football team," Stein said.

It is not the flashiest description, and this was not the flashiest win. But a team that spots an opponent 10 points, gains 14 yards in a quarter and still wins by 17 is a team that knows exactly who it is. Kentucky gets a week off to enjoy first place. Then comes Knoxville, where it finds out how long it gets to keep it.

Sources: The Associated Press, Field Level Media, Spectrum News 1, Saturday Down South and the FOX Sports box score. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: UK Athletics.