Report Card: Vanderbilt vs. Kentucky

It's in the record books now, Kentucky 27 Vanderbilt 20. VandyMania.com analyzes every element of the Commodores' performance and assigns a grade to each area.

Report Card: Vanderbilt vs. Kentucky VandyMania.com grades the Commodores' performance against the Kentucky It's in the record books now, Kentucky 27 Vanderbilt 20. VandyMania.com analyzes every element of the Commodores's performance and assigns a grade to each area.

Vanderbilt 20

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Kentucky 27

AREA	GRADE	COMMENTS
PASSING OFFENSE	B	Mackenzi Adams finished with 20 completions in 31 attempts for 193 yards and two touchdowns. A very good performance against the nation's No. 20 passing defense. He got the ball to Earl Bennett 8 times and connected with two other Commodores for touchdown passes.
RUSHING OFFENSE	B	A great effort by the Vanderbilt runners. Cassen Jackson-Garrison, Jeff Jennings and Jared Hawkins combined for over 200 total yards 70 yards.
PASSING DEFENSE	C+	Not a terrible performance against one of the nation's top passing attacks. Vanderbilt sacked Andre Woodson 3 times and limited him to just 222 yards passing. However, whenever Vanderbilt had a lead or tied Kentucky they had no answer for Woodson and Co. as UK quickly marched down the field for scores.
RUSHING DEFENSE	B	Great job stopping Rafael Little and limiting him to just 70 yards rushing. Jonathan Goff had 12 tackles to lead the Commodores.
SPECIAL TEAMS	D-	Missed field goals and even a missed extra point will haunt Vanderbilt. The long kickoff return after Vanderbilt tied the game at 20 in the fourth quarter also hurt.
COACHING	C	Although there are no coaching blunders to point out, this is another close loss for the Vanderbilt coaching staff. The Commodores are now 5-21 under Bobby Johnson in games decided by 7 points or less. While some of the close losses earlier in Johnson's tenure were excusable, the Commodores should now be able to win at least half these games with their talent level. Close losses cost Vanderbilt bowls in 2005, 2006 and now 2007 might be added to the list.
OVERALL GRADE	C+	A good valiant effort by the Vanderbilt players. The nice passing effort by Mackenzi Adams and the great effort by Vandy's passing defense gives the team something to build on for Tennessee and Wake Forest.