Vanderbilt didn’t have all of the kinks ironed out of its offense Saturday, but there will be additional time to address that in December.
After all, Vanderbilt will be making a third consecutive bowl appearance.
The Commodores continued their trend of achieving bowl eligibility in each season since James Franklin arrived in Nashville, beating Kentucky 22-6 before a crowd of 33,488 at Vanderbilt Stadium.
“It’s an expectation now,” Vanderbilt senior cornerback Andre Hal said. “We want to win. We want to go to bowl games.”
The Commodores (6-4, 3-4 SEC) found the end zone twice — but just once in the first 59 minutes — in senior quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels’ return to the starting lineup.
Carta-Samuels received medical clearance to play Saturday morning for the first time since injuring his left knee in the second quarter of the Georgia game on Oct. 19. He was 19-of-24 passing for 184 yards and heated up as the game progressed.
“Just had a limited role in practice, been working hard, got the clearance so I was just ready to step in and do my job,” Carta-Samuels said. “I felt great. Obviously, they cleared me. Something was working.”
Jordan Matthews hauled in 12 of those completions — a career high — while catching a pair of long passes in the second half en route to 141 receiving yards.
The Commodores continued their takeaway binge, intercepting Kentucky quarterback Jalen Whitlow four times while shutting out the Wildcats after the 6:23 mark of the first quarter. Vanderbilt has 16 takeaways in its past four games after getting just seven in its first six games.
“The turnovers were huge,” Franklin said. “I thought the defense played as well against the spread and a mobile quarterback probably since we’ve been here. I think that’s great strides for us. I think we had a good plan.”
Vanderbilt reached bowl games in consecutive seasons for the first time last year. Kentucky (2-8, 0-6) lost for the third time in a row to the Commodores and has been outscored 100-14 in that stretch.
“It’s the same old song and dance,” Wildcats first-year coach Mark Stoops said. “I’m upset and frustrated. I thought our team played hard, but we just didn’t make plays when we had to.”
Vanderbilt pieced together second-half drives that ended in two Carey Spear field goals to seal the win. Spear, who missed a 34-yard field goal in the third quarter, connected on tries of 26 and 38 yards in the fourth quarter to extend a 9-6 halftime lead to 15-6.
Patton Robinette, who started Vanderbilt’s previous two games, entered on the final series and completed a jump pass to Kris Kentera for a 13-yard touchdown with 47 seconds to play.
Vanderbilt outgained Kentucky 141-16 in the fourth quarter and had the ball for 10:51. The strong finish gave the Commodores their seventh consecutive November win and boosted Franklin’s November record to 8-2.
“I thought (Carta-Samuels’ presence) helped in some ways,” Franklin said. “I think the biggest thing is our defense played exceptionally well.”
Kentucky marched 75 yards on its opening series, using Whitlow’s feet and an uptempo approach. Jojo Kemp’s 2-yard dive put the Wildcats on top 6-0.
But the point-after try didn’t go as planned. Adam Butler surged through the center of the line and got his hands on the kick, and Steven Clarke scooped up the block and returned it for a two-point conversion to make it 6-2.
Vanderbilt’s first takeaway set up the final score of the half. Hal latched on to a deflection off the hands of receiver Demarco Robinson and returned the interception 12 yards to the Kentucky 26. Three plays later, Brian Kimbrow’s 21-yard cutback run put Vanderbilt up 9-6.
The Commodores were outgained 169-79 in in the first half (109-28 on the ground), and the Wildcats got to Carta-Samuels for three sacks in Vanderbilt’s first five series.
“You say they got to me three times in the first half? That’s great because they didn’t get to me any times in the second half,” Carta-Samuels said. “We’re good. Clearly we were on the same page the rest of the game.”
Kentucky saw its second-quarter drives end in disappointment. Paris Head made an over-the-shoulder interception on a sideline pass intended for Javess Blue once the Wildcats reached midfield. On the last play of the first half, Andrew Williamson picked off Whitlow’s heave to the end zone after Kentucky had gotten as close as the Vanderbilt 41.
