Nov. 15, 2008
Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery 
Commodore Game Notes
Vanderbilt at Kentucky, Lexington, Ky.
Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008
Attendance: 65,595
With the 31-24 victory over Kentucky, the Commodores move to 6-4 on the season, and 4-3 in Southeastern Conference action.
– Vanderbilt becomes bowl eligible (six wins) for the first time since 1982 when they played in the Hall of Fame Bowl in Birmingham, Ala. It marks just the fourth time since 1955 that Vanderbilt has reached at least six wins.
– It also marks the first time since 1982 that Vanderbilt has captured four SEC wins in a season. It is the Commodores’ first four-win SEC campaign since the conference went to divisional play in the early 1990s. Vanderbilt has won four SEC games in eight seasons: 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1948, 1949, 1955 and 1982.
Vanderbilt has won five SEC games just once, going 5-1 in 1935. The Commodores have one SEC game remaining, vs. Tennessee on Nov. 22.
Other notes from the Commodore victory
– It is Vanderbilt’s first victory in Lexington since a 24-20 win on Nov. 11, 2000. The win also breaks a four-game losing streak to the Wildcats dating to a 28-17 victory in 2003.
– Bobby Johnson gets his 26th win as Vanderbilt’s head coach, moving into sole position of fifth place on the team’s all-time coaching wins list. Johnson was tied with former mentor George MacIntyre, who served as Johnson’s position coach at Clemson.
– The Commodores move to 6-1 in night games this season, with their only loss coming at the hands of Florida (42-14 on Nov. 8).
– Vanderbilt moves to 3-2 on the road. It also marks the Commodores’ second SEC road win of the season.
– The win was Vanderbilt’s first ever on ESPN2. The Commodores were 0-7 on ESPN2 entering the game. This season, the Commodores are 4-1 on ESPN channels: 2-0 on ESPN, 1-1 on ESPN2 and 1-0 on ESPNU.
First Half
– On Vanderbilt’s opening drive, QB Chris Nickson found Hawkins on a 39-yard completion. It marked the longest reception of Hawkins’ career. The Commodores went 59 yards on the possession to the Kentucky 25-yard line when Nickson found D.J. Moore in the end zone for a touchdown on a fourth down conversion. It was Moore’s first career reception and second career touchdown. It also marked the Commodores’ first touchdown on an opening drive this year, and the first time this year Vanderbilt has scored before its opponent.
– With 2:00 left in the first quarter, Nickson and Moore connected from 18 yards to cap a 10-play, 80-yard drive to give Vanderbilt a 14-0 margin. The completion gave Nickson 101 passing yards in the opening quarter. The drive was aided by roughing the punter penalty by Kentucky.
– After struggling against Florida in the opening stanza, Vanderbilt dominated action in the initial quarter against Kentucky, holding substantial margins in points (14-0), first downs (7-0), total yards (151-15) and time of possession (11:47-3:13).
– The Wildcats kept Vanderbilt’s third drive alive with another roughing the punter penalty with 12:02 left in the second quarter.
– With 8:45 left in the second quarter, Vanderbilt’s special teams gave up a huge play when the Wildcats blocked a 42-yard field goal by Bryant Hahnfeldt, returning it 57 yards for a Kentucky touchdown.
With 4:19 left in the second quarter, Moore contributed another huge play, intercepting a Randall Cobb pass at the Kentucky 21-yard line. It was Moore’s fifth interception of the year and 12th of his career.
On Vanderbilt’s first offensive play after the pick, Nickson jolted 21 yards to the UK 1-yard line. Two plays later Nickson hit TE Brandon Barden for one-yard touchdown pass. It was Barden’s third TD reception of the season and Nickson’s third TD pass of the first half.
– The Vanderbilt defense allowed just one first down in the first half – that coming on a fake punt conversion on fourth down.
– Bryant Hahnfeldt drilled a 39-yard field goal with two seconds remaining in the first half to give the Commodores a 24-7 halftime lead. The field goal was Hahnfeldt’s first made field goal since his game winner against Ole Miss on Sept. 20. Hahnfeldt’s field goal snapped a 0-4 streak.
– Vanderbilt posted a season best first-half high in total offense (290 yards), while limiting Kentucky to one first down and 40 total yards. The `Dores also had a 24:50-5:10 advantage in time of possession.
Second Half
– Vanderbilt gave Kentucky excellent field possession early in the third quarter when Moore fumbled a Wildcat punt at the Commodore 12-yard line. The Wildcats scored five plays later to narrow the Vanderbilt margin to 24-14.
– Vanderbilt quarterback Chris Nickson rushed for 36 yards on the last play of the third quarter to push him over the 100-yard mark for the game. The play put the ball at the Kentucky 15 yard line. Jared Hawkins capped off a six-play 68-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown plunge to give the Commodores a 31-17 lead. It was his fourth rushing score of the season.
– D.J. Moore intercepted his second pass of the game at the 2:07 mark at the in the fourth quarter to end the final Kentucky threat. The Wildcats had fourth and four at the VU 23, when Moore intercepted the pass. The Commodores ran out the final two minutes off the clock to end the game.
Postgame
– Chris Nickson finished 15-of-27 with 155 yards passing and three touchdowns, all season highs. He had 118 yards rushing on 20 carries, a single game high for Vanderbilt rushers this year. It was the Commodores second 100-yard game of year (Jared Hawkins had 107 against Rice). He finished with 273 yards of total offense.
Nickson has had a good history against Kentucky, in his previous start here in 2006 he had 446 yards passing with a TD and 71 yards rushing with two scores.
– D.J. Moore finished with two interceptions giving him six on the year and has 13 career picks, tying him for second in the school’s history. Donald Gleisner (1950-52) and Ken Stone (1970-72) each have 13. Leonard Coleman (1980-83) is the school record holder with 15.
– Defensively Myron Lewis led the `Dores defense with seven total tackles while Chris Mavre, Patrick Benoist and Steven Stone tallied five. Safety Ryan Hamilton recorded two tackles for a loss while Broderick Stewart added one.