Here’s everything you need to know about Saturday’s showdown between Vanderbilt and Kentucky.

When: Saturday
Where: Lexington, Kentucky
Game Time: Noon ET
TV: SEC Network
Current Line: Kentucky (-15.5)

Game Buzz: Saturday’s matchup between Vanderbilt and Kentucky features two SEC East teams facing different scenarios. The Commodores enjoyed their most successful three-year stretch in school history, before opening the 2014 season with a 1-2 record. The Wildcats are 2-1 and were seconds away from an upset over Florida in Week 3. Kentucky looks improved in head coach Mark Stoops’ second season at the helm, already matching last season’s win total.

SATURDAY DOWN SOUTH PREVIEWS

VANDERBILT COMMODORES

Players to watch:

  • QB Patton Robinette
  • RB Ralph Webb
  • WR C.J. Duncan
  • LB Caleb Azubike
  • LB Nigel Bowden
  • DB Ryan White
  • DB Torren McGaster
  • DB Tre Bell
  • KR Darrius Sims

Keys for Vanderbilt:

  • Vanderbilt must continue to feed Ralph Webb the football. Webb is the most consistent player on the Commodores offense and should continue his role as the team’s feature back. The redshirt freshman leads with 378 rushing yards and a touchdown on 77 attempts. The Commodores struggling offense must center around Webb and set the tone early with a strong rushing attack.
  • Patton Robinette must stay healthy. Robinette has experienced injuries throughout Vanderbilt’s first four games, including a concussion suffered last week against No. 13 South Carolina. When healthy, the sophomore is the Commodores best option under center and played solid in his last two appearances.
  • Vanderbilt must avoid turnovers. The Commodores enter Saturday’s game with a -6 turnover margin and average -1.5 per game. Offensively, Robinette must play a mistake free game against a solid Kentucky defense. Defensively, the Commodores must provide pressure to Towles and Heard in the backfield.

Commodores’ glaring weakness to watch: Turnovers. As mentioned above, Vanderbilt must avoid crucial mistakes to stay in contention. This will be a tough task facing a solid Kentucky team coming off a bye at home.

Most interesting part of the game: Can Robinette provide another strong performance at quarterback? The sophomore returned in Week 3 against UMass to provide Vanderbilt with its only win of the season. Against South Carolina, Robinette helped the Commodres jump out to a 14-0 lead before leaving early. Saturday’s game will be a litmus test to see where this offense stands with Robinette at quarterback.

Team Buzz: Vanderbilt ranks last in the SEC. The pessimism in Nashville reached an all-time high after a fan bought the domain www.firederekmason.com in Week 2. But Mason has shown signs of improvement in recent weeks and may win some fans over with a huge upset on Saturday.

KENTUCKY WILDCATS

Players to watch:

  • QB Patrick Towles
  • RB Braylon Heard
  • RB “Boom” Williams
  • WR Ryan Timmons
  • DL Jason Hatcher
  • DE Bud Dupree
  • DE Za’Darius Smith
  • LB Khalid Henderson

Keys for Kentucky:

  • Play mistake-free football. As long as Kentucky continues to avoid committing turnovers, it should have no trouble scoring enough points to top Vanderbilt at home. The Cats’ could stand to reduce their penalty yardage a bit in addition to limiting turnovers, but the key will be to not force anything or commit any unforced errors to let an inferior Commodores team hang around. If the Cats play a clean game, they’ll win easily.
  • Do not let Ralph Webb get going. It is no secret how vital Webb is to the Vandy offense, so eliminating him from the equation has to be Kentucky’s top priority on defense. Until Vandy proves it can beat them with the pass, the Cats must stack the box and stuff Webb at the line of scrimmage, prohibiting the run game from gaining any traction. Kentucky must dare the Commodores to throw it and see if they do, but the Cats can’t let Webb be the one to beat them Saturday.
  • Stay balanced on offense. A lot of different backs and receivers have had a chance to touch the ball in Kentucky’s first three games, and the more weapons offensive coordinator Neal Brown can work into the offense, the tougher Kentucky’s Air Raid will be to stop. The Air Raid is predicated on a lot of passing, but Kentucky has run the ball well early in the season, and maintaining balance will keep defenses guessing. The Wildcats’ playmakers should be fresh into the fourth quarter with the depth they’ve built on offense, so staying balanced and spreading the ball around will be a recipe for success against Vanderbilt.

Wildcats’ glaring weakness to watch: Kentucky is 13th in the SEC in run defense, which is bad news considering how lethal Webb has been at times this season. Each member of the front seven must focus on his specific role on a given play, and the Wildcats must be sure tacklers in the run game Saturday. Vanderbilt will attack this weakness early, so Kentucky fans should hope Mark Stoops’ team fixed a few things on defense during last week’s bye.

Most interesting part of the game: The Wildcats haven’t won an SEC contest since 2011, so despite being favored by more than 15 points, this game is still a meaningful one in Stoops’ tenure in Lexington. A Kentucky win would give the program something to build from with six SEC games remaining after this week, and it would relieve a lot of the anxiety built up in the Bluegrass since a momentous 2011 win over Tennessee. Kentucky is expected to win this game, but that doesn’t mean it can’t still celebrate like an underdog if it wins.

Team Buzz: Although UK lost its most recent game on Sept. 13, there are good vibes in Lexington entering Saturday’s contest. Kentucky hung with Florida on the road for 60 minutes and three overtimes, and had no trouble winning both of its first two games this year. The Cats only won two games each of the last two years, so that alone is a huge improvement. A win Saturday would get the team halfway to bowl eligibility with eight games remaining on the schedule, and the Bluegrass will be rocking if the Cats are in bowl contention in the second half of the year. If Kentucky beats Vandy, the good vibes will continue for a while, which is a welcomed change for the Wildcats.