Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt game glance, TV info, odds, and an early score projection

After completing a desperately needed bye week — the Kentucky Wildcats will graciously welcome an 0-5 Vanderbilt Commodores team to Kroger Field on Saturday.

The game is scheduled to kick off at noon and can been seen on the SEC Network, or you can listen to Tom Leach on the iHeart media app.

Saturday’s contest can do virtually nothing to boost the Cats’ overall resume, but it could go a long way in completely destroying what’s left of it.

Vanderbilt is the worst offensive team in the Southeastern Conference and ranks near the bottom in most defensive statistics. They aren’t a good football team.

Despite Kentucky having their challenges this season — if beating this Vanderbilt comes as a major challenge, then some tough questions will need to be answered.

If this season still has the chance to be salvaged, then it has to start with beating the Commodores in convincing fashion. After this week, the schedule gets brutal and finding wins to round out the year will not be an easy task.

For Kentucky, the key to victory on Saturday will be more about executing what they do as opposed to stopping Vandy’s game plan.

Can the offense get on track?

This question is by far the most obvious pressing area of concern for Mark Stoops and his staff. They’ve responded to criticism over this past week and have attempted to use this time to correct issues.

For several weeks the UK offense has lacked creativity and production.

Whether Terry Wilson, Joey Gatewood or Beau Allen is under center — The Cats have to find ways to consistently move the ball down the field.

The lone bright spot has been Chris Rodriguez who has now carried the ball 75 times this season for 419 yards. I would expect him to get a heavy work-load on Saturday because UK’s offensive-line should be able to have their way with the ‘Dores.

Vanderbilt has given up 41 points or more three times in their first five games.

With two weeks to prepare, Kentucky should not struggle to move the ball like we’ve seen in recent weeks.

Can the defense win this one?

Well — we’ve seen it before — if Kentucky can’t find enough juice on offense this Wildcat defense is good enough to wreak havoc on their own.

Vanderbilt has only scored 64 total points this season through five games. Even with all of UK’s offensive struggles they are putting up better numbers than than.

Vandy’s freshman quarterback, Ken Seals, has already tossed eight interceptions and boats a mere 44.7 QBR.

The Kentucky defense could be set up for a Tennessee like performance.

Game: Vanderbilt Commodores at Kentucky Wildcats

Date: November 14th at 12:00 pm EST

Stadium: Kroger Field

TV Channel: SEC Network

Online Stream: WatchESPN and fuboTV

Radio: UK Sports Network

Odds: Kentucky opened as a whipping 17-point favorite. For context, Kentucky has been held to 13 or fewer points three times this season. The offense has accounted for a mere 13 points over the last two games.

Early Prediction: TeamRankings projects a 36-16 victory for Kentucky.