The No. 20 Texas Longhorns were a slim favorite in their first home game since September and looked to be in control from the first offensive snap of the game, but let the Vanderbilt Commodores back in late
and had to sweat it out. The offense ended the game kneeling the ball down and sealing the victory, but there’s still work to be done ahead of Georgia.
The offense is finding its rhythm
The Longhorns’ offense caught fire at the end of the Mississippi State game, and it continued into the first play of the game against Vanderbilt. Steve Sarkisian called a play to put Ryan Wingo in space, one of the most explosive players on the team, and he took it for 75 yards and a touchdown. Texas spent most of the game running a more uptempo scheme, keeping a Vanderbilt defense that couldn’t keep up athletically on its heels, and took advantage early and often. Arch Manning, after setting a career high a week ago, completed 76% of his passes for 328 yards and three touchdowns, connecting with 10 different receivers in the contest.
Getting the ball out quickly served the offensive line well, letting the unit get into rhythm and shut down a Vanderbilt defensive line that has talent and likes to create havoc. The Commodores were averaging nearly three sacks per game heading into the contest, but they were held without a sack and just one tackle for loss in the contest.
The defense still isn’t fixed
After needing the offense to bail them out a week ago, the defense played lights out for most of the game, but seemingly fell apart late in the game and opened the door for Vandy to make things tense late.
Leading by 24 points, Pavia managed to squeak away from the defense and crack off a 25-yard scamble for a touchdown. On the next drive, broken coverage led to a 67-yard touchdown pass to Eli Stowers to close the game to 10 points. After the offense was unable to put up points on the ensuing drive, Texas allowed Vanderbilt to go 89 yards on 12 plays to make it a one-score game with 33 seconds left in the game.
There were bright spots with the unit, bringing down the elusive Pavia six times and hurrying him another seven times, led by Etahn Burke, who finished with two sacks and three tackles for loss.
Texas can run, a little, without Arch Manning
While Manning typically needs to use his feet in the ground game, for both his benefit and the benefit of the offense, with a recent concussion, the offense looked to limit his exposure to hits. Quintrevion Wisner, who hasn’t been up to standard in the last several weeks due to injury, turned in one of his best games of the year when Texas needed it the most. Wisner finished the day with 75 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, helping ease some of the load on the passing game to carry the offense. Texas still needs another option in the backfield, with CJ Baxter still not up to full speed in this one, finishing the game with just 22 yards on seven carries, with a seven-yard scamper as the long of the day for him.
