Was beating Vanderbilt the biggest win of Rich Brooks' UK career?

Hear me out on this.
Sure...beating LSU when they were ranked #1 in the country two years ago was huge.
And beating Louisville earlier that season when they were ranked in the top 10 was big as well.
Three bowl victories are also enormous accomplishments for this UK football program.
Even the road win at Auburn this season was right up there at the top of the list, but I dare to argue that UK's recent win over Vanderbilt may be the biggest win of Rick Brooks UK coaching career.
Here's why - a loss at Vanderbilt could have meant a "monumental step backward" for this UK football program. Everything Brooks and the Cats have worked for and accomplished could have been flushed down the toilet if UK had lost that game.
A loss probably would have meant that the Cats were not going to be bowl eligible for the fourth year in a row. A loss would have been the second straight loss to Vanderbilt, annually considered the worst team in the SEC East. That "worst team in the SEC East" tag would have then squarely been placed on Kentucky.
It's possible that it would have taken UK a couple of years to "rebound" from a loss at Vandy if they would go on and finish the season with only 5 wins and not be bowl eligible.
Instead, the Cats get a huge win and continue to (as Coach Brooks likes to say) "move forward". Bowl eligible for the fourth year in a row - that's never been done before in UK history.
With the huge win, UK has now also won four out of their last five games. Morgan Newton is 4-1 as the Cats starting quarterback. With Mike Hartline's season ending injury, Newton is now the "captain of the ship" and doesn't have to be "looking over his shoulder". There is no quarterback controversy. If they had lost, we might all be trying to figure out what the Cats should do at quarterback for the final two games.
Beating Vanderbilt on November 14, 2009 might not go down in the history books as one of biggest wins in UK football history, and it will probably never make one of Mark Story's "countdown" lists of big UK football wins, but trust me, thinking of where this program might be if UK had lost that game should make us all realize how big of a win it really was.
Congrats to the Cats!

Tags: cats, college football, football, kentucky wildcats, mike hartline, morgan newton, quarterback, sport

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Comment by kyfan32 on November 18, 2009 at 2:15pm: And you missed my point completely, it is the way things are done isn't good enough. Mom, everybody else is doing it. Play Division I schools! Your bragging about going to Bowls for 4 consecutive years based on beating weaker opp, IE DIV II schools, BIG DEAL. Do the same thing against Div I schools, then you, we, have something to brag about. Vandy as poor as they are, are a Division I school, I would rather play Vandy's than other DIV II schools. My expectations are different than yours and everyone elses. DId it ever occur to anyone that your only as good as who you play. So what if we beat DIV II schools, maybe thats why we cannot compete in the SEC.

Comment by Bigcatinva on November 16, 2009 at 10:21pm: "Comment by kyfan32 10 hours ago What have they worked for and accomplished? If your referring to all the Division II victories then yes, it is an accomplishment. Four straight bowl elegible seasons is not an accomplishment based largly on Division II wins"

Other than EKU, what are you talking about? If we played more than 1 non BCS we would not be bowl eligible.Take a look at UF, Auburn, any Big East school, and too many more to mention. It's the way things are done anymore. We don't need to play a killer out of conference schedule. We play in the SEC EAST. We've played the #1, #2, #8, #23 (at the time) teams (I forget if USC was ranked at the time, if so there's another).

Comment by kyfan32 on November 16, 2009 at 11:54am: What have they worked for and accomplished? If your referring to all the Division II victories then yes, it is an accomplishment. Four straight bowl elegible seasons is not an accomplishment based largly on Division II wins.

Comment by The Krystal Ball on November 16, 2009 at 10:14am: Hartline should have never been out there period on Saturday...Just my opinion.

I still think Brooks' biggest win was the Georgia game three years ago. That really turned things around and led to the first bowl berth.

The game Saturday was BIG, but no the biggest.

But I do see your point Ryan.

Comment by Beau Gibson on November 15, 2009 at 9:23pm: I think we're still rebounding from the Vandy loss last season!
BUT, consider, this season is almost a rebuilding season, with all the injuries and young players.
If we can do this well now, think how much better it can be in future seasons.
Exciting to think about! Even this year, with a win at SC, and not flubbing the home game with MSU, we could be sitting at 8-2. Here's hoping for some more important victories this season, none more important than the next two! Go CATS!

Comment by rphelps on November 15, 2009 at 9:03pm: To me a claim like that would only apply to a game that mattered outside of Nashville and Kentucky. I understand your reasoning but I refuse to believe that a game you should win is the biggest win of his tenure.