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Late score lifts Kentucky over Vanderbilt

Nov 11, 2007 - 4:45 AM NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Derrick Locke helped make sure that Kentucky would not stay stuck on six wins.

Locke, who did not play in the first half, scored on a four-yard touchdown run with 5:58 remaining to lift the 24th-ranked Wildcats to a 27-20 victory over Vanderbilt on Saturday in a Southeastern Conference contest.

Benched in the first half for disciplinary reasons, Locke provided an offensive spark when he entered the game, rushing for 50 yards on 12 carries in the second half.

"Coach (Rich Brooks) told me to be ready," Locke said. "I knew I was going to get into the game a little bit, but I didn't think it was going to happen so quickly. I just went in and tried to do my best."

Kentucky (7-3, 3-3 SEC East) snapped a two-game losing streak and reached seven wins in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1976-77. It also kept alive its slim hopes of winning the SEC East.

"This is a great win for us anyway you slice it," Brooks said. "It's an SEC win on the road. I told the team last night, six wins doesn't guarantee you anything. I think that in the history of the Kentucky-Vanderbilt series, this win has to be up at the top."

"It put us in a good position to get to a good bowl game," Locke added. "It puts us in the chase. We're still not satisfied. We need to keep winning."

The Wildcats, who overcame a season-high 13 penalties for 123 yards, had to sweat out the final minutes as Vanderbilt (5-5, 2-5 SEC East) converted three fourth downs on its final possession.

The third fourth-down conversion gave Vanderbilt a first down at the Kentucky 24 with under a minute remaining.

But after Mackenzi Adams completed a nine-yard pass to George Smith, Adams was sacked for a five-yard loss on second down.

With the clock running inside 20 seconds, Adams elected to spike the ball on third down instead of using the Commodores' final timeout.

Vanderbilt's hopes ended when Adams' fourth-down pass sailed over the head of Justin Wheeler and fell incomplete in the end zone with 11 seconds remaining.

"Until we took the sack on the next-to-last play, I thought (Adams) played very good," Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson said. "We knew what the time was and we were using it just the way we wanted to use it. If we were going to score, we didn't want Kentucky to have a chance to get the ball back."

Vanderbilt dropped its second straight and still needs one win to become bowl eligible for the first time since 1982.

Andre' Woodson completed 17-of-28 passes for 222 yards and a touchdown for Kentucky, which took a 20-13 lead on Maurice Ginter's one-yard TD run with 9:56 left in the third quarter.

Vanderbilt pulled even on Adams' seven-yard TD scamper with 7:31 remaining in the contest. Adams completed 20-of-31 passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns.

"It was a tough one to lose," Johnson said. "That one hurt a bunch. For the most part, we played pretty well. I thought Kentucky played extremely well at times. Some strange things happened in that game."

After the Commodores tied the contest, Kentucky answered quickly, driving 51 yards in six plays in just 93 seconds for the go-ahead score.

Keenan Burton returned the kickoff 42 yards to give the Wildcats possession at their 49-yard line. Four plays later, Woodson hit Jacob Tamme for a 34-yard gain, giving Kentucky 1st-and-goal at the 6 and setting up Locke's TD.

"Their defense has been playing very well and they were very good today," Brooks said. "I've got to give Johnson credit. They do as a good a job of disguising what they do better than any team we've faced."

Adams threw a pair of TD passes in the first half, helping the Commodores take a 13-10 lead.

Kentucky's Lones Seiber kicked a 43-yard field goal with four seconds left in the first half to tie the contest, 13-13.

Rafael Little paced Kentucky on the ground with 70 yards on 15 carries.