As Brock Taylor lined up to attempt an onside kick with 33 seconds remaining, everyone in DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium watched in silence. 

Vanderbilt found itself down by 24 points entering the fourth quarter. A game that started with dominance on both sides of the ball from Texas looked like it was going to end that way. But Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia had other things in mind. 

Pavia scrambled for a 25-yard touchdown with just over 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter. The offense quickly put another eight points on the board after a 67-yard connection from Pavia to Eli Stowers on a busted coverage and a subsequent two-point conversion from Pavia to Junior Sherrill. Then, after marching 81 yards down the field, Pavia found Richie Hoskins for an eight-yard touchdown to cut the Longhorns’ lead to just three. 

In came Taylor, whose onside kick bounced off the hands of Texas wide receiver Parker Livingstone and ended up by the left sideline at the Texas 47-yard line. Three Commodores — Langston Patterson, Nick Rinaldi and Hoskins — were all able to get a hand on the ball, but none could recover it before it rolled out of bounds. Texas retained possession and got in victory formation to seal the game away. 

All of this to say: Vanderbilt could have surrendered at any point during this game. It could have after the 75-yard touchdown by Ryan Wingo on a quick pass out of the backfield on the first play from scrimmage or the fumble from Pavia on Vanderbilt’s fourth snap on offense. Or, after Quintrevion “Tre” Wisner punched in a touchdown to go up 24-3 halfway through the second quarter. It could have given up after every single one of those plays. But it kept fighting. 

That’s what this team does. They showed it last week in a gritty win over Missouri, and they showed it again in a nail-biting loss to preseason No. 1 Texas. 

Nevertheless, Clark Lea has transformed this program to the point where it no longer needs to take pride in “moral victories.” Vanderbilt was tremendously outcoached and outplayed in the first half of this game, and while it managed to close the gap and shrink Texas’ lead, it still suffered its second loss of the season. 

Don’t let this game blind you. Playoff hopes for the Commodores aren’t dead yet. The season isn’t over, and Vanderbilt won’t fall out of the AP Poll Top 25, either. 

“We still have everything out in front of us,” Lea said. 

The truth is that this game was a reality check for the Black and Gold. Vanderbilt has made strides toward becoming an SEC powerhouse, but it’s not quite there yet. 

Now, let’s take a look at what’s on the menu for today. 

Florentine omelet 

Against Texas, Vanderbilt looked like it couldn’t make a tackle in the open field. Emmett Mosley, DeAndre Moore, Wingo and the rest of the pass catchers for the Longhorns slipped away from Vanderbilt’s defenders time and time again. It was an especially ugly game for star safety CJ Heard, who missed four tackles in the first quarter alone. Heard was the hero in last week’s win over Missouri, ripping the ball away from running back Jamal Roberts to take back possession in the fourth quarter. It was a very different story against Texas, however. 

Heard and the rest of the Vanderbilt secondary have had their struggles with strong tackling throughout the course of the season, but the loss to Texas was the most apparent showcase of this shortcoming. Vanderbilt let up 34 points through just three quarters to the Longhorns, allowing their receiving corps to amass 258 of their 328 total yards after the catch. 

Tackling wasn’t the only struggle for the defense, though. Imagine Lea and Steve Gregory walking through the supermarket to pick out the ingredients to include in their omelet. The three core components of a Florentine omelet are spinach, eggs and, of course, cheese. After making their way to the cheese aisle, there are two options to choose from: Gruyère and Swiss. Gruyère comes in a solid block that holds its form quite well, even in high-heat situations. Swiss, on the other hand, is full of holes and lacks structural integrity. 

Vanderbilt’s secondary was far more reflective of the latter against Texas. Arch Manning put together his most complete passing performance of the season against the Commodores. He threw for 328 yards and 3 touchdowns while completing 25 of his 33 attempts through the air.

It wasn’t just Vanderbilt’s pass defense that looked full of holes, though. Texas’ ground game picked up chunk play after chunk play and showed no difficulty moving the ball down the field. This is a scary thing to think about when you consider that the Longhorns were barely able to put up 16 points two weeks ago in an overtime win against Kentucky, which is widely regarded as the worst team in the SEC at the moment. 

It’s safe to say that this omelet got burnt in the pan and the cheese melted far more quickly than Lea and Gregory would have liked. They will need to adapt and fill these holes accordingly to prepare for the rest of Vanderbilt’s schedule. 

Biscuits and gravy 

Spirits were high in Nashville following a weekend that saw the College GameDay crew in town before a cage fight against Missouri. Pavia and his teammates brought these good vibes with them to Austin. Much like freshly baked biscuits right out of the oven, the Commodores were fresh and ready to face another ranked opponent in hopes of a win. 

But as soon as their cleats hit the turf, Pavia and Co. were smothered by the gravy of Texas’ defense. Colin Simmons looked like he was living in Vanderbilt’s backfield, forcing the fumble from Pavia within the first five minutes of the game and drawing a holding call on Jordan White on a crucial third-and-one in the first quarter. Simmons recorded a sack and two QB hits to go along with the forced fumble. 

Ethan Burke also dominated the line of scrimmage for the Longhorns, chalking up a pair of sacks and three tackles for loss by himself. Star linebacker Anthony Hill got in on the action, as well, adding a sack of his own coupled with 1.5 tackles for loss. Texas’ defense managed to accumulate six sacks — the most on Pavia in a single game in his career — as well as 10 tackles for loss and seven QB hits in the game. Long story short, Vanderbilt’s offensive line simply couldn’t compete with the size and talent of this pass-rushing unit. 

The defensive front for Texas, however, was not only effective in this dimension. They stifled the Commodores’ rushing attack, allowing just 58 yards on the ground. Take away the 43 yards that Pavia picked up with his legs, and Vanderbilt’s running back room combined for 15 yards on 10 carries — a measly 1.5 yards per carry. For a team that relies so heavily on its ground game to win, this was a lackluster showing to say the least. 

“Obviously, a really disappointing performance for us,” Lea told the media. “I don’t think we played well.” 

Vanderbilt’s offensive line will need to do better at protecting Pavia and paving the way for the members of the backfield. 

Double-smoked brisket 

On the other hand, Texas’ rushing attack was able to find paydirt for what seemed like the first time this season. Wisner and his backfield mate CJ Baxter have battled injuries throughout the first 10 weeks of their 2025 campaign, and even when they have been healthy, they’ve appeared to be ineffective.  

But Texas is known for its smoke-outs and barbecue, and in preparation for the Longhorns’ matchup against Vanderbilt, they made sure to double down on that. 

Though it isn’t entirely apparent in the box score, Wisner and Baxter were a two-headed monster for Texas this week. Wisner used his 18 carries to gash Vanderbilt’s run defense for 75 yards and a score, while adding 28 yards through the air on two receptions. Baxter, his compliment, was given only seven carries, but he turned those into a productive 22 yards and some important first downs. He also brought in his lone reception from Manning for a six-yard touchdown. 

Vanderbilt’s two-headed rushing attack was put to shame — or should I say ‘smoked’ — by this outing from Wisner and Baxter. Alexander’s five rushing attempts went for a meager 11 yards, and MK Young was unproductive with his four carries, gaining just 7 yards. Part of this may be on the offensive line, which held up very poorly with Texas’ front seven, but the running backs are certainly somewhat responsible for this underwhelming performance. 

“They beat us. They did a really good job of protection,” Lea said. “We just didn’t win. In our program, to say that we weren’t the hardest playing team on the field hurts me. 

The Longhorns dominated the trenches all day long, and that was clear in the final score of the game. If Vanderbilt wants to return to its winning ways, it needs to be able to boss the line of scrimmage and contain the opposing team’s rushing attack. 

Side(line) of fruit 

With every good brunch meal comes a side of fruit. Many of the dishes served at brunch can feel heavy and overly filling, but a nice mix of some sweet berries for freshness on the side can help lighten the load. 

It seemed like that was Steve Sarkisian’s mentality heading into this game. Sarkisian drew up a number of plays for Manning to get the ball out quickly to the sideline on a screen or a short pass out wide in the flat. Because of this, every receiver on Texas’ offense was fresh and ready to go for the next play. 

Much akin to the light quality of most fruits served in a side order, pass-catchers for the Longhorns were light on their feet and quick to gain yards after the catch. This was another issue with the tackling for Vanderbilt, as they failed to wrap up on short passes behind the line of scrimmage that instead resulted in chunk plays. Just two of Manning’s 12 completions in the first half went for less than 10-yard gains. 

“[The Longhorns] find ways to get the ball out on the perimeter [in] creative ways,” Lea said in a press conference before the game. “So, playing well on the perimeter will be huge.” 

As huge as it would have been, Vanderbilt failed to execute on the defensive side of the ball, particularly outside the numbers. Lea recognized this after the game. 

“The worst part of it, to me, was just the way we played on our perimeter and our efforts on the ball,” Lea said. 

Vanderbilt is not a team that’s built to play from behind. So, when Wingo escaped and ran free for a 75-yard touchdown on the first play of the game, the Commodores were already in trouble. Texas is a team with a lot of speed and quickness on the outside, and Vanderbilt did not look ready to handle that. The defense was sluggish at times, and the offense was stifled by the best defense that it has faced so far this season. 

But you have to look on the bright side. Vanderbilt went into one of the hardest stadiums to play in the nation and lost by just three points. It was down by three touchdowns on multiple occasions and still managed to keep fighting. And while no team in the SEC is an easy-out, its schedule gets much easier from here on out. The road to the CFP remains very much alive for a team that has already clinched bowl eligibility. 

The Commodores will return to Nashville for Homecoming Weekend as they prepare to face Auburn on Nov. 8 at 3 p.m. CST in front of a sold-out crowd.