Football: Four takeaways from Vanderbilt’s loss to Texas – The Vanderbilt Hustler

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No. 9 Vanderbilt Football lost to No. 20 Texas on Saturday, 34-31, falling to 7-2 on the season. The Commodores couldn’t stop Texas’s offense and quarterback Arch Manning, who threw for 328 yards. Diego Pavia tried to muster up a late fourth quarter comeback, but the Commodores had already dug themselves into a hole they couldn’t climb out of. Vanderbilt went down early, 17-0, following a Texas house call on the first play of the game and a fumble by Pavia on Vanderbilt’s opening drive. The Commodores tried to keep up the rest of the way but couldn’t find the points to pull out a win. 
Lots of things looked out of sorts for head coach Clark Lea’s squad, as some uncharacteristic mistakes plagued the Commodores. Here are four takeaways from the game. 
Nowhere to run 
Vanderbilt has always relied on its rushing attack to win games. A solid ground game often wins it the time of possession battle and wears out opposing defenses. Texas’ run defense is stellar, though; it entered this matchup ranked No. 3 in the country in rushing yards allowed. That impressive defense showed, as Vanderbilt was limited to just 58 total rushing yards on 2.4 yards per carry.  
Running backs Sedrick Alexander and MK Young were stuffed at the line of scrimmage on practically every run up the middle. Pavia was consistently met in the backfield as well, as the Longhorns held the graduate quarterback to just 43 yards on the ground on 14 attempts. Vanderbilt’s offensive line couldn’t open any holes for running backs or Pavia, leaving Vanderbilt to search for answers through the air. Pavia did well to keep Vanderbilt afloat with his arm, but living by the passing game isn’t necessarily Vanderbilt’s brand of football.  
Losing on the line of scrimmage 
Vanderbilt lost this game on both sides of the line of scrimmage. The offensive line gave up a season-high six sacks, the most in Pavia’s Vanderbilt career, while the defensive line put little pressure on Manning.  
Vanderbilt’s defensive line recorded just three quarterback hurries and no sacks, giving Manning plenty of time to slice up the Commodores’ secondary. The redshirt sophomore quarterback had a stellar day as a result of facing little pressure in the pocket, throwing for 328 yards in the victory. Vanderbilt players like Miles Capers, Langston Patterson and Khordae Sydnor were contained by an offensive line that ranks No. 12 in the SEC in sacks given up.  
The Commodores’ offensive line did not perform to its normal standard, either. For a unit that has been stellar all season — ranking No. 1 in the conference in sacks given up — it gave up six sacks to give Pavia little protection. The group couldn’t open up any sizable holes for the run game, either, marking an uncharacteristically poor performance. 
Pavia and a fourth quarter comeback 
A clear positive from Saturday was Vanderbilt’s ability to fight back late in the game. Due to an ineffective run game and dwindling time, Pavia was forced to rely on the passing game. He fared quite well, connecting on 70% of his attempts for 365 yards — the most he’s accumulated this season. Vanderbilt’s early deficit proved to be too challenging, though, as he was behind the eight ball for the entire game. Still, it was impressive to see Pavia connect on several longer throws and showcase his ability to pick up some short gains when under pressure. In the fourth quarter, Vanderbilt put 21 points in its comeback effort. Pavia accounted for all three of those touchdowns, as he threw for two and rushed for one. After the onside kick at the end of the game gave Texas possession, it was too late; but Pavia certainly proved that he can make big plays, especially in crunch time.  
The Commodores will hope they can ride that fourth quarter momentum into next week’s game against Auburn. Even with its back against the wall, Vanderbilt never gave up, showing its resiliency.  
Perimeter defense 
Vanderbilt’s defense struggled on the perimeter, missing several open-field tackles on Saturday to give up explosive plays. In Tuesday’s press conference, Lea harped on the need for Vanderbilt to play solid perimeter defense to win, but it certainly struggled to do so, especially in the first half.  
“This is a [Texas] team that has incredibly explosive skill,” Lea said on Tuesday. “They find ways to get the ball out on the perimeter [in] creative ways. So, playing well on the perimeter will be huge.” 
Safety CJ Heard is arguably Vanderbilt’s best tackler, but even he missed five-straight tackles on Texas’ second drive of the day. The Commodores’ defense looked sluggish for the entire game, unable to contain a solid Texas receiving core led by Emmett Mosley and DeAndre Moore. Vanderbilt had opportunities for tackles around the line of scrimmage on several plays but just couldn’t wrap up. In fact, Manning threw for 200 yards in the first half, but 185 of those were considered yards after catch.   
Vanderbilt will now host Auburn for Homecoming Weekend on Nov. 8 at 3 p.m. CST.  
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