It wasn’t pretty, but the Kentucky Wildcats managed to top the Vanderbilt Commodores 17-7 Saturday to earn their first SEC victory since beating Tennessee to end the 2011 season. The Wildcats are now 3-1 this season, which is more wins than they earned either of the last two seasons.

Here are five takeaways from Kentucky’s win over Vanderbilt:

  1. Mark Stoops’ defense is beginning to take form four weeks into the season. It should be noted that Vanderbilt’s offense has been putrid all year (the Commodores have failed to score an offensive touchdown in three of five games this year), but Kentucky’s defense won this game with a dominant performance on Saturday. The Commodores mustered just 139 yards of total offense (85 through the air and 54 on the ground), and managed just eight first downs all afternoon. The Cats pulled in three interceptions in the second half to maintain their 10-point lead, and did not allow a single point to Vandy’s offense for the game. The Cats’ offense committed three turnovers, but their defense never allowed the Commodores to take advantage. Kentucky knew Stoops would work to duplicate his dominant Florida State defenses while at Kentucky, and he’s done so in less than two full seasons. If Kentucky’s defense can play this well in every SEC East game left on the schedule, it’ll remain right in the thick of the East race.
  2. Boom Williams is becoming a versatile weapon in Kentucky’s offense. Williams was effective as a runner and receiver against Vanderbilt, making the most of all eight of his touches for the game. He led the team with three catches for 39 yards, and also carried the ball five times for 27 yards (an average of 5.4 yards per carry). Williams is powerful enough to run between the tackles and shifty enough to burn defenses on the outside. He is a deadly receiver out of the backfield, whether it be on a designed screen or a checkdown that Williams maximizes with a long run after the catch. He is a powerful runner, and is not easy to bring down, as Vanderbilt learned on Saturday. Williams should play a larger role in Kentucky’s Air Raid offense as the season progresses, and the more different ways offensive coordinator Neal Brown can find to utilize him, the more dangerous he’ll be.
  3. Patrick Towles is indeed a mortal after all. The Cats’ starting quarterback did not look like a first-time starter in UK’s first three games, throwing for more than 900 yards in those games, but he finally looked like an inexperienced quarterback in the win over Vandy. Towles completed his first 11 passes and was 19 of 22 in a strong first half, but he was just 4 of 8 in an ugly second half. He stared down a receiver leading to a pick-six in the first half, representing Vanderbilt’s only points for the game. He also fumbled the ball three times and was lucky to lose just one of those fumbles, resulting in a two-turnover day after he had committed just three turnovers in his first three starts combined. Kentucky still managed to come away with the victory, but Towles’ performance was easily his worst showing of the season. He’ll learn and grow from this game, but Saturday’s performance should bring outside expectations back down to earth for a sophomore with four career starts under his belt.
  4. Bud Dupree finally recorded his first sack of 2014. The Wildcats’ star defensive end had not recorded a single sack in any of Kentucky’s first three games, but he registered 1.5 sacks and 5 tackles in the win over Vanderbilt. Dupree was expected to be a major impact player on the defense this season, and his numbers took a hit as he routinely faced double teams from opposing offensive lines. The Commodores tried with all their might to contain Dupree, but they couldn’t keep him from wreaking havoc on freshman quarterback Wade Freebeck. Freebeck played terribly in facing heavy pressure all game long, and it’s no coincidence that UK had its best defensive performance of the year on the same day Dupree had his best game of the year.
  5. Kentucky does not need one featured back to be a great rushing offense. It seems peculiar to talk about a team’s ability to run the ball when it operates an Air Raid offense, but the Cats have had an underrated rushing attack in 2014. Six different players carried the ball for Kentucky on Saturday, and they combined to rush for 183 yards and a touchdown against a decent Commodores defense. Braylon Heard may be the team’s No. 1 back, but Kentucky has the luxury of possessing a deep stable of tailbacks, and it has used all of them so far this year. Those backs all use different running styles, and rotating a few players through the backfield will keep all of them fresh deep into the season. Kentucky possessed the ball for 17 minutes longer than Vanderbilt in a low-scoring game, and its rushing attack was a big reason why.