Vanderbilt rains on UK’s Senior Day

All it took was one senior to make a difference on the field Saturday in Commonwealth Stadium.

He was just wearing the wrong jersey.

Led by senior quarterback Chris Nickson, the Commodores reversed years of agony by becoming bowl eligible for the first time since 1982. The last two seasons, UK stood in the Commodores way for a bowl bid the last two seasons, but on Saturday they finally blew the door down. Nickson and Vanderbilt got the elusive sixth victory with a 31-24 win over UK in front of 65,595 fans on a frigid Saturday night in Commonwealth Stadium.

Nickson provided the Commodores’ offense with a spark from the first play, quickly leading Vanderbilt to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. Nickson finished the game with 118 yard rushing and 155 through with air. The senior also added three passing touchdowns.

UK, however, seemed numbed by the cold air. The Cats (6-5, 2-5 Southeastern Conference) once again started slow, digging a hole that ended up being too deep to climb out of.

“The first 30 minutes were awful,” UK head coach Rich Brooks said. “We had them a few times, but we let them off the hook with the roughing the punter calls.”

Penalties — including two roughing the punter calls that kept Vanderbilt (6-4, 4-3 SEC) drives alive and a roughing the passer call against junior linebacker Micah Johnson that negated a David Jones interception — especially plagued the Cats.

The first roughing the punter call led to Vanderbilt’s second touchdown. The second one kept alive a Vandy drive alive that would have led to a field goal, but Myron Pryor blocked the kick and Jones picked up the ball, taking it 57 yards for a touchdown.

Despite that blocked field goal, UK wanted no Moore of the Commodores during the first half, especially junior wide receiver/cornerback D.J. Moore.

The dual-threat Moore picked on the UK secondary during the entire game, receiving the Vanderbilt’s first two touchdowns and finishing with three receptions for 51 yards and two touchdowns. When he wasn’t picking on UK’s secondary, he was creating havoc in his own, picking off freshman quarterback Randall Cobb twice.

The play of Nickson and Moore left Brooks searching for reasons why his team, which started the year strong defensively, couldn’t find their groove on Saturday.

“I wish I had some answers,” Brooks said. “If I had answers we wouldn’t have started that way. And it’s my job to have the answers.”

While the Cats were searching, the Commodores were rolling, determined to finally become bowl eligible after two years of coming so close, yet just missing out — usually because of losses to UK.

“We have spoiled Vandy’s season two or three years in a row,” Brooks said. “We told (the players) that they would come in with an energy and we had to match that. Obviously I didn’t get that through the cranium.”

Saturday was also the second straight game where UK’s once-stout defense was exposed. Georgia hung 42 points on UK last week and Vanderbilt moved the ball with ease, whether on the ground or through the air, for 368 yards.

“Everybody has just adjust their focus,” Pryor said. “We have to come together as a unit again. Guys are pointing fingers and we don’t need that.”

It was also the second week in a row that UK mounted a furious comeback, battling back from a 17-point deficit. But in another déjà vu moment, Moore picked off Cobb at the Vanderbilt 17-yard line.

“It’s just frustrating,” Cobb said. “Hard as a person and as a team. I really don’t know what to think.”

Despite being stuck on six wins, UK’s biggest setback was its inability to send its seniors off with a win.

“Me and Braxton (Kelley) looked at each other like this is it,” Jones said. “We took it on ourselves to win this game as seniors. We didn’t do it.”

Yet, despite losing a tough game in nasty weather, not all of UK’s seniors were ready to hinge their careers on one game.

“I’ve had a great experience at UK,” senior running back Tony Dixon said. “I felt like I’ve came from the bottom to the top. It’s an honor to play here. I’m going to miss it.”