NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Going into Saturday’s game against South Carolina, Vanderbilt knew it had a golden opportunity to break multiple long losing streaks. But that opportunity slipped through its fingers—and now opportunities as a whole are dwindling for a team still clutching to slim postseason hopes.
The Commodores need to win out over its final three games of the 2022 season, starting with an 11 a.m. CT matchup Saturday at rival Kentucky, to avoid finishing the regular season with a losing record.
“It’s just about coming out here and trying to reset and refocus to try to go out there and get the ‘W’ that we’ve been wanting. We’ve been close in a lot of games,” Vandy senior running back Ray Davis said. “We kind of just hurt ourselves with a little bit of turnovers, miscues defensively and offensively. It’s just about fixing those little things and those nuances to go out there and get a ‘W.’
“We’ve only hurt ourselves. When we’ve been playing games it’s been Vanderbilt vs. Vanderbilt rather than Vanderbilt vs. the opponent because it’s always just been one thing that’s been the trickle effect to affect the rest of the games. Once we get down to fixing those and playing a clean, perfect game, we’ll be able to come out with the ‘W’ we’ve been wanting for a while.”
Vandy, which has not led an opponent since leading 20-17 early in the third quarter over Ole Miss on Oct. 8, finds itself losers of five games in a row. It fell behind South Carolina on Saturday at FirstBank Stadium less than four minutes into the game and was never able to wrestle the lead back in a 38-27 defeat.
The Commodores (3-6, 0-5 SEC) had four turnovers, missed a field goal, failed on a fourth-down conversion and allowed 7.8 yards per play. That all led to a sixth league loss under second-year head coach Clark Lea that was by 17 points or less, losses that have been by an average of 9.2 points.
“I thought we had a spirited Tuesday practice today as we set our course toward Kentucky,” Lea said about his team’s resolve. “I’m excited about taking this team up to Lexington and having them compete.
Kentucky (6-3, 3-3 SEC) started the season 4-0 and rose to No. 7 in The Associated Press Top 25. The Wildcats then lost a 22-19 game at Ole Miss and a 24-14 contest to South Carolina before knocking off a ranked Mississippi State squad at home.
Head coach Mark Stoops’ team took a 44-6 defeat at Tennessee on Oct. 29 and has…