LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- Vanderbilt dominated Kentucky on offense, defense
and special teams Saturday to jump to a 27-point halftime lead and coast
to a 40-0 win.
Quarterback Jordan Rodgers
completed 18 of 29 passes for 220 yards, two touchdowns and one
interception, and three different Commodores running backs scored
rushing touchdowns against the overmatched Kentucky defense.
Vanderbilt's
40-point victory margin was its largest against the Wildcats in 96
years. In the teams' 85 meetings -- 40 won by Vanderbilt -- the only
Commodores victories that were more lopsided were 45-0 in 1916 and 50-0
in 1897.
The Commodores (5-4, 3-3 Southeastern Conference) scored
touchdowns on four of their five first-half drives, none of which took
longer than 4 minutes, 19 seconds.
Rodgers drove Vanderbilt 71 yards on 11 plays to begin the game, ending with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Matthews. Rodgers also threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Chris Boyd in the second quarter.
Vanderbilt
relied on its offense and Kentucky's special-teams miscues to start
drives in good field position and move the ball quickly thereafter. The
Wildcats were penalized twice for interfering with the catch on punts on
consecutive second-quarter drives, both of which Vanderbilt turned into
touchdowns.
Kentucky (1-9, 0-7) missed an early scoring
opportunity on a 16-play, 49-yard drive that consumed 7:10. After
converting a fourth-down play at the Vanderbilt 28-yard line, the
Wildcats were pushed back, and Craig McIntosh missed a 50-yard field goal attempt on fourth-and-15.
The Wildcats made it into the red zone only once in the game. In the third quarter, sophomore safety Ashely Lowery
intercepted a Rodgers pass in Vanderbilt territory and returned it to
the Commodores 25-yard line, and a personal foul on the return pushed
Kentucky up to the 12-yard line.
But Kentucky turned the ball over on downs in four plays.
