The Southern Line
Kentucky is bowl eligible and tied for first in the SEC after four-interception win at Oklahoma
Kentucky's 21-13 win at Oklahoma made the Wildcats 6-1 and bowl eligible and left them tied with Georgia atop the SEC at 4-1, with Vanderbilt up next.
With Saturday night's 21-13 win at Oklahoma, Kentucky clinched bowl eligibility before the end of October. Thanks to a day of upsets across the league, the Wildcats also share first place in the SEC. They are 6-1 overall and 4-1 in conference play. In Will Stein's first season, Kentucky got to six wins in seven games and has now won five straight.
The standings changed around the Wildcats while they were playing. On3's KSR reported that Auburn handed Georgia its first loss and Tennessee beat Alabama, which left Kentucky and Georgia level at 4-1 in league play. Tennessee and Ole Miss are each 3-1. A Sea of Blue (SB Nation) noted that Kentucky is 3-0 in SEC road games. The program had not won three straight conference road games since 2009.
The Wildcats won in Norman without much offense. Southern Sports Today reported that Oklahoma outgained Kentucky 346-230 but lost the turnover battle 4-0. Safety Jordan Castell and Ty Bryant had two interceptions each. Bryant's pick late in the third quarter set up Kenny Minchey's second touchdown pass to tight end Willie Rodriguez, which gave Kentucky a 14-13 lead. Castell then returned an interception 41 yards for a touchdown with 1:17 left, and Bryant picked off John Mateer again with 21 seconds remaining to end it. Minchey finished 21 of 28 for 158 yards. Sports Illustrated's Kentucky site pointed to Oklahoma's 7-of-10 third-down conversion rate in the first half as the reason the Sooners led 10-7 at the break.
After the game, Castell made clear the locker room has bigger plans. "We're looking for more than a bowl game," he said on postgame radio, according to On3.
What it means for Vanderbilt
Kentucky returns to Kroger Field on Saturday, October 24, to face Vanderbilt on SEC Network. In that game, the Wildcats defend a share of the conference lead against the team at the bottom of the standings. On3's table has the Commodores at 3-4 overall and 0-4 in SEC play.
The numbers show how narrow Kentucky's margins have been. The Wildcats have outscored opponents 229-181 over seven games. Take out the 45-17 home loss to Alabama, and their six wins have come by a combined 76 points. More than half of that came against South Alabama and Youngstown State. The last three wins were decided by a total of 10 points, and two of them were 35-34 overtime results against South Carolina and No. 10 LSU. Kentucky also owns wins over two top-10 teams, LSU and No. 9 Texas A&M. With a 3-0 record in true road games, the Wildcats have done some of their best work away from Lexington.
A home game against a winless conference opponent gives Kentucky a chance to get to 7-1 and 5-1 in the league before the first College Football Playoff rankings come out. Over the last three weeks, the defense has had to cover for an offense that has struggled to finish drives. The Vanderbilt game will show whether the Wildcats can win one comfortably.
