Three Plays: Explosive Start and a Sack with Unintended Consequences

Kentucky played with its hair on fire in the first half against Vanderbilt, sprinting out to a 31-3 halftime lead. The second half was not quite as exhilarating for the BBN. The Wildcats scored only three points in the final 30 minutes and let Vanderbilt hang around long enough to cover a 21.5-point spread. Let’s dive into what went right for the Cats and attempt to explain how Vanderbilt kept it relatively close in the second half.

Explosive Deep Shot

Will Levis was a deep ball wizard in the week one win over ULM, completing five passes for 30+ yards and three for 50+ yards. When the calendar changed from September to October, something went wrong. Kentucky went an entire month without completing a pass 20+ yards down the field through the air.

Liam Coen took a baby steps approach to get Levis back on track. Instead of dialing up deep posts to Wan’Dale Robinson, UK’s offensive coordinator called for the wide receiver to sit down on his routes. Levis was effective hitting intermediate in-routes against Tennessee. With the foundation set, Coen unleashed Levis against Vanderbilt.

With a 7-3 lead, Coen put his foot on the gas. After a first down completion moved the sticks, Kentucky went for the jugular.

The play-action gave Robinson enough time to make a double-move on the post-corner route. Levis faced pressure, yet did not panic and stepped into the throw, putting the ball on the money for an explosive 39-yard gain. On the next play Levis found Izayah Cummings for a 22-yard touchdown.

Aside from a dud at Mississippi State, Levis has steadily improved throughout the season. The last missing piece of the offensive equation is consistently connecting on deep shots. They took a step in the right direction Saturday night at Vanderbilt.

Playmaking on Defense

The three-game losing streak exposed plenty of problems with the Kentucky defense. The most glaring problem is one that’s actually pretty simple: the Cats aren’t creating enough turnovers.

Last year UK had one of the best turnover margins in the country, forcing 22 takeaways in the shortened season (t-6th nationally). No one expected them to replicate that production this season, but the pendulum swung in the complete opposite direction. The Kentucky defense had only five takeaways entering tonight, the fewest in FBS football. In the middle of a slump, they needed an explosive play to turn the tide and regain some confidence. They got exactly that from Jalen Geiger.

Ken Seals faced pressure and threw up a gimmy to Geiger. In his first career start, the strong safety did not let it slip through his fingers, returning the interception 31 yards for a touchdown that gave UK a 21-3 lead. The Wildcats needed a big play from the defense and delivered in the best way possible, even though it didn’t necessarily translate to second half stops.

Paschal Sack Sidelines Seals

Kentucky’s defense was not perfect, but they produced stops in the first half. The Commodores only moved the chains six times and they ended four possessions with a punt. Vandy needed a spark in the worst way and they got it from a Josh Paschal sack.

Paschal pushed the offensive tackle into the turf then buried Seals. He should have pumped the brakes and gently sacked Seals. Coming off an injury, the Vanderbilt quarterback only played one more snap, then called it a night.

Mike Wright entered the game in the second half and the running quarterback did what every backup, running quarterback does to Kentucky. Wright’s wheels forced UK to play sideline to sideline. He picked up aggravating yards to move the chains and delivered darts when they needed it. He only had 58 yards passing and 20 yards on the ground, but Wright remained poised under pressure, throwing two touchdown passes on fourth down to cap off 11 and 12-play scoring drives. If Seals stayed in the game, Kentucky fans might not be feeling so ho-hum about the Wildcats’ seventh win of the season.