Going into Week 10 of the 2025 season, No. 9 Vanderbilt (7-1, 3-1 SEC) is ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll for the first time since 1937. Following last week’s nerve-wracking win over Missouri with a final score of 17-10, the Commodores travel to take on No. 20 Texas (6-2, 3-1 SEC) at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin this weekend. The Longhorns’ season may have started off rocky with a 14-7 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes, but their overtime victories over Kentucky and Mississippi State proved that Texas should not be counted out just yet.  

To preview this week’s game in Austin, The Hustler went Behind Enemy Bylines to interview Lauren Hightower, Sports Editor for The Daily Texan.  

Vanderbilt Hustler: Following last week’s major comeback against Mississippi State in overtime, how has Texas shown growth so far this season? 

Hightower: They called that win one of their “culture wins.” So that and the game against Kentucky both have helped bring the team together in the locker room. And they’ve been saying that they’ve been learning about themselves from those wins, just because they’ve been able to fight back from them. They’ve also been talking about how they want to start out winning so that they don’t have to rely on stuff like that. But in general, I think that moving forward in the season, the fact that they know that they were able to have those huge comeback wins will help them going into playoffs, where there’s such a low margin of error, knowing that they can come back from being down that far to win the game will be good for their mentality moving forward. 

Arch Manning was removed from last week’s game with an apparent concussion. How is Texas adapting its offensive game plan for this weekend’s game? 

I mean, he was in practice today. He’s still in concussion protocol, so he’s not cleared to play yet, but we’ll find out later whether he’ll play. In Monday’s media availability, they talked about how Matthew Caldwell — who’s the backup quarterback who stepped in for that last drive in overtime — has a lot of trust from them. The Texas coaching staff talked about how Caldwell is always on the sidelines, coming up to all the receivers and telling them what they could have done better. He always has his helmet on, listening to the play call, like playing a mini game on the sidelines, figuring out what he wants to do, what he would do differently, etc. He’s interacting with the players, and he’s encouraging them. If they have to put Caldwell in, it’s not going to be a crazy adjustment for everyone. He was practicing with the team on Monday, and KJ Lacey went up to the twos. This game is going to be a good opportunity for the run game to get started, as well. The team had CJ Baxter out for a long time. They had Quintrevion Wisner out towards the beginning of the season. So really, the two starting running backs have been in question. Texas hasn’t really gotten the chance to have both of them on the field at the same time. The run game hasn’t been doing all that well, to be honest; it hasn’t been as effective as Texas wants it to be. I think that with both Wisner and Baxter back, there’s the potential for them to rely on it more and for them to be able to have a good run game. 

Which players, on offense or defense, should Vanderbilt watch out for this weekend? 

Another player who’s in question right now is Michael Taaffe; he had thumb surgery the Monday after the Longhorns played Kentucky. He didn’t play against Mississippi State, but they said he practiced yesterday and today; that’s a good sign for Texas because Taaffe is the semi-finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award. He’s just a really solid figure in the backfield. But outside of that, they also have Jelani McDonald. He stepped up against Mississippi State — I think he got something like 14 tackles and one quarterback rush. And then you also have Hero Kanu, Liona Lefau, Anthony Hill Jr. and Colin Simmons. There’s just a really solid group of defenders that have a lot of experience, and now, they all are performing well. So defensively, I’d say the biggest question is in that backfield with the defensive backs: who’s going to be out there and who’s going to be able to step up in the secondary, especially if Taaffe isn’t playing. I think that up front is going to be where Vanderbilt is going to feel the most pressure.  

Vanderbilt has quickly become seen as a fierce competitor in the SEC. What is Texas the most cautious of going into this SEC match-up? 

I mean, what I’m hearing most about is Diego Pavia. I think that they’re most scared about his versatility. The coaching staff talked about having to be solid in all three phases because if they’re not prepared to put out their best game, then they talk like it’s going to be a real challenge for them. They definitely talk the most about Pavia and his performance this season as well as the different things that he’s able to do within the game to surprise the defense. 

With this game taking place at the DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium, what does the home-field advantage look like for Texas? 

I would say that everyone’s really excited to have a home game again. I think that it’s definitely going to be a packed stadium. We’ve basically had a month away, so I think all the fans are really excited to be back. The players and the coaches are excited to get back, because they’ve been going away and getting back at 2 a.m. in the morning. Also, just having to deal with the fatigue of that and not having their families there or their entire support system there. Just having everyone there supporting them, I think, will be a really big advantage, especially since it’s been such a long time since they’ve been at home. 

Lastly, what is your score prediction for this week’s matchup? 

I would probably say Texas 24, Vanderbilt 21. 

The Commodores travel to Austin, Texas, on Saturday, Nov. 1 to take on the Texas Longhorns at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium at 11 a.m. CDT. 

Responses were edited for length and clarity.