Vanderbilt Football: Reaction to the Commodores’ disappointing loss at Kentucky

The Commodores traveled to Lexington to take on the No. 14 ranked Kentucky Wildcats, and the result left both fanbases agitated, mainly Vanderbilt’s.

The Vanderbilt Commodores were defeated by the Kentucky Wildcats, 14-7, on Saturday night in a game that featured only eighteen completions and three total touchdowns.

The game was not aesthetically pleasing by any means, and though the Commodores were competitive throughout, the result left fans outraged with the coaching staff and their play calling.

The first quarter began with two early Wildcat turnovers. The Commodores capitalized on one of these turnovers and scored their only touchdown of the game on their second drive.

Their next five drives resulted in only first down. Going into the half, the Commodores and Wildcats were tied up at a touchdown apiece.

At this point, I was semi-satisfied and confident that Kentucky was capable of making more mistakes that could potentially lead to more points. However, I was not confident that the Commodores were capable of scoring another touchdown due to Kentucky’s strong defensive play and, most prominently, the seemingly simplistic playcalling.

Though the Commodores gained more yards in the second half, they were unable to score any points as their four drives resulted in a missed field goal from thirty-one yards, two fumbles, and a punt.

One of the two Commodore fumbles came on fourth and short early in the fourth quarter when the Commodores, who were held on third and short the previous play, ran a similar play on fourth down with the same level of success, drawing much criticism from Vanderbilt fans on social media.

The call was ultimately made by the offensive coordinator, Andy Ludwig, who has been heavily criticized in the past for his predictable, vanilla play calling.

According to the Vanderbilt Hustler, despite its criticism, the play call was supported by senior quarterback, Kyle Shurmur, who had this to say when asked about the controversial play call on fourth down:

The failed fourth down attempt was certainly a difference maker in this close game, but it was not the sole reason why the Commodores lost. The Commodores lost on Saturday due to their lack of offensive consistency and their inability to convert third downs as converted on only thirty percent of their third-down attempts.

On a positive note, the Commodores held the Wildcats to only two scores and three completions. As predicted, however, the Wildcats gained 280 yards on the ground and were seemingly running without restriction in the second half.

Yet again, Commodore fans were very much agitated and underwhelmed after the team’s defeat in Lexington due to frustrations regarding their offensive play calling and their lack of execution. This has been the story of Commodore football during the Derek Mason era.

The Commodores move to 3-5 (0-4) on the season with four conference games remaining as they strive to clinch bowl-eligibility for the fifth time in eight seasons. The Commodores will travel to Fayetteville next week to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks who are also winless in conference play.