The Kentucky Wildcats could have stayed away from the dreaded "crossroads" had they hung on to beat the Georgia Bulldogs this past Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium, but instead UK surrendered a late score that allowed Georgia to escape with a 42-38 victory.
That left the Wildcats at 6-4 overall and 2-4 in the Southeastern Conference.
The Vanderbilt Commodores started the season 5-0, leading one to think surely Vandy would not allow a bowl berth to escape their grasp AGAIN. But, alas, since that glittering beginning, the Commodores have dropped four straight games, including a road game at lowly Mississippi State and a 10-7 home defeat against lowly but improving Duke.
Vandy is coming off a deceptively close 42-14 loss to Florida in Nashville. That game leaves the Commodores at 3-3 in the SEC.
As a result of this mess, the Wildcats and Commodores arrive at what seems to be an annual crossroads for both teams when they meet Saturday night at 8 (on ESPN2) at Commonwealth Stadium.
"It's two of the traditional bottom feeders, and if you don't beat the other one, you're going to have a hard time having a good year," said the always candid Kentucky coach Rich Brooks. "It's the old phrase " it's going to be like two starving dogs scrapping over the last scrap of meat. It's going to be wild."
The situation is a bit more precarious for Vanderbilt, which needs one more win just to become bowl eligible. The Commodores have a home game against Tennessee on Nov. 22 and then a road date at Wake Forest on Nov. 29. You figure that at best Vanderbilt splits those two, so if the Commodores lose to Kentucky, they'll wind up 6-6 with bowl eligibility but no guarantee of a bid.
Bowl bid assured?
The Wildcats have only a slightly less precarious position. I believe Kentucky will get a bowl bid even if the Wildcats lose to Vanderbilt and then Nov. 29 at Tennessee, simply because the UK fans travel so well.
But if the Wildcats want to play in something better than, say, the Mars Bowl (I hear it's very cold there), they need to win at least one of their last two games, and it would be a real good idea to win both. At 7-5 I believe Kentucky could get to the Peach Bowl, and would do no worse than the Liberty Bowl or Music City. At 8-4 Kentucky should do no worse than the Peach and could have at least a small shot at the Outback Bowl.
Although it should be noted that if Kentucky finishes with an 8-4 regular season, that would be plenty of reason to celebrate no matter where they go bowling simply because that would mean the Wildcats break the 23-year losing streak to Tennessee. And although Tennessee has fallen apart this season, I'd still love as a UK fan to enjoy that feeling of a win over the Vols.
But, again, there's this crossroads game this weekend against Vanderbilt.
"It's going to be a very important game for both teams obviously," Brooks reiterated. "It seems like that's almost a yearly thing when we play Vanderbilt. We need it to secure a bowl and they need it for bowl eligibility. I don't think there's any question they will be as high as they've been all year."
Brooks noted that revenge will be another Commodore motive. The Wildcats own a two-game win streak over Vanderbilt, and in both cases, the UK wins prevented the Commodores from becoming bowl eligible.
"I'm sure they have plenty of motivation and some of it is revenge because we've kept them out of it (bowl eligibility) for a little bit while we've put ourselves in position," Brooks said.
"Do or die game'
"This is what I call a do or die game," said Kentucky junior defensive end Jeremy Jarmon. "They're going to come out fired up, and we have to match their intensity because this game is pretty much going to determine the future of both teams."
"It's extremely critical," said UK junior offensive tackle Justin Jeffries. "We have to work our way up the bowl ladder. We're bowl eligible, but six wins doesn't cut it anymore. So we have to work our way up."
Both teams have emotional challenges to face as well as both suffered disappointing losses this past Saturday, albeit in different fashion. Vanderbilt was never in it against Florida, while the Wildcats' defense went back to yesteryear in giving up 520 yards of offense to Georgia.
"It was a lack of tackling and missed assignments ... mental errors," Jarmon said of UK's problems on the defensive side. "I'm very confident that won't happen again this week. But we've got to get out there and get to work. The season's on the line."
On the other hand, the Kentucky offense enjoyed its best showing of the season vs. Georgia, gaining 331 yards against a defense that's as good as any the Wildcats have faced outside of Florida.
"Obviously the loss hurts, but being able to put up more than 200 yards (226) rushing against a stout defense like Georgia is a big thing," Jeffries said. "That makes us feel better."
There's also the matter of Kentucky fans saying goodbye to 21 seniors in a ceremony that will start at 7:30 Saturday night. It would be nice to see all the fans in the seats early. This senior class doesn't have the big names of a year ago, but it's a class that has nevertheless contributed a great deal to the legacy of Kentucky football.
"A lot of these guys were here when things weren't real good, and they have been part of bringing some credibility back to Kentucky football," Brooks said. "They've had the two bowl wins, and this year that has teetered between really good and heartbreaking. We've lost three conference games by three points, four points and seven points.
"It's been a year of frustration, but I think we're still in position to do some very good things. But that makes this game a must win game for us to send them out on senior night with a positive experience."
"We can still win eight in the regular season and we can still get a ninth win in a bowl, so all of that is still out there," says UK junior running back Alfonso Smith. "We can still do great things."
UK Notes
Saturday's football game is in the middle of a big sports weekend at UK. It starts Friday night at 7 when Kentucky opens its men's basketball season against Virginia Military at Rupp Arena. The Kentucky women's basketball team then opens its season at 2 p.m. Saturday against Michigan at Memorial Coliseum.
The UK volleyball team, meanwhile, is enjoying its best season in school history and has two big matches at home at Memorial Coliseum this weekend. The Wildcats host South Carolina Friday night at 7:30, and with a win there, their home match Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. against traditional power Florida could be for the Southeastern Conference championship.
Ticket stubs from either the men's basketball game against VMI or the football game against Vanderbilt will get you free into Sunday's volleyball match.