No. 14 Kentucky’s status as an 11-point favorite over the Vanderbilt Commodores defied the history of a series that has produced an abundance of brutally ugly but utterly competitive football games. Despite Kentucky’s relatively lofty status, Saturday night shaped up as another brick in the ugly wall of Kentucky/Vanderbilt football.

It wasn’t pretty, but it ended up as a win for Kentucky, as the Wildcats held off visiting Vanderbilt, 14-7, on a cold, windy night in Lexington.

Kentucky’s successful season was in the fire until a 1-2 combination from the defense and running back Benny Snell in the fourth quarter. Wildcats junior linebacker Kash Daniel stopped a Vandy running play on fourth and 1 from the Kentucky 16. Snell then took control, leading an 80-yard scoring drive to give Kentucky its first lead on a 7-yard scamper with 8:04 to play. Snell’s big play capped a long and frustrating evening for both teams.

The Wildcats didn’t clinch this one until Josh Allen and Calvin Taylor Jr. hit QB Kyle Shurmur to force a fumble which safety Mike Edwards recovered, ending Vandy’s last-ditch effort at driving for a tying touchdown.

After Kentucky stopped Vanderbilt on the game’s opening series, Wildcats quarterback Terry Wilson fumbled on UK’s second offensive play. Vanderbilt recovered and turned the possession into a 29-yard touchdown strike from Shurmur to C.J. Bolar. Late in the first half, Kentucky took a short field after a defensive stop and eventually converted on a 5-yard scoring pass from Wilson to receiver Lynn Bowden.

The Commodores contained Kentucky’s offense for most of the half, with Wilson completing 2-of-4 passes for just 7 yards. Meanwhile, Kentucky was equally solid on defense. Shurmur was 10-for-13 for 103 yards, but was sacked twice, and Vandy’s rushing game barely eclipsed 2 yards per carry.

The teams swapped possessions early in the second half. Bowden opened the half with a 90-yard kickoff return score that was negated by a holding penalty. The teams traded missed field goals in the third quarter, with Vandy’s miss going wide left from 31 yards with 9:33 remaining in the quarter and Kentucky’s coming up short from 39 yards with 2:55 left in the third.

Predictably, junior running back Snell led Kentucky. He eclipsed 100 yards rushing for the 16th time in his career, and the fourth time this season, in the drive that culminated in the winning score. Defensively, Allen picked up his seventh sack of the season; Daniel reached double digits in tackles and made the critical fourth-quarter stop on Wakefield.

Vandy was led by Shurmur, who completed passes to five different receivers in the first half and passed for 175 yards in the first three quarters. Defensively, Commodore linebacker Jordan Griffin reached double figure tackles and broke up two passes.

Next week, Kentucky travels to Missouri. Kentucky has won the last two in the series, but will need to recapture its offensive mojo to remain in the SEC East race with Georgia looming the following week.

Vandy travels to Arkansas next week, where the Razorbacks picked up their second win of the season on Saturday over Tulsa, 23-0. The Commodores’ November schedule is considerably more favorable than September or October as they face Missouri, Mississippi and Tennessee, with the latter two at home.