The Texas Longhorns returned to Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday, 42 days after their last home game, and survived a fourth-quarter comeback from the Vanderbilt Commodores to beat the AP No. 9-ranked team, 34-31.
The Longhorns extended their Southeastern Conference-winning streak to four games with the victory, now heading into a bye before facing Georgia in Athens on Nov. 15.
Here is the good, bad and ugly of Texas’ performance versus the Commodores on Saturday:
Nov 1, 2025; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) passes ahead of Vanderbilt Commodores defensive back Thomas Jones (9) during the second half at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images / Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
Start to each half
Texas fans have been waiting for the type of start the Longhorns had against Vanderbilt.
On the first play from scrimmage, wide receiver Ryan Wingo took a screen pass 75 yards to put Texas on the board in just 11 seconds. The defense followed up with a key play of its own on Vanderbilt’s opening drive, when edge Colin Simmons strip-sacked Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia to grant the offense the ball on the Commodores’ 38-yard line.
The Longhorns extended the lead to 10 on a Mason Shipley field goal later on the drive. Less than four minutes in, Texas was already up two scores.
“Really, really proud of our team and proud of the way we came out to play right from the start,” head coach Steve Sarkisian postgame.
Running back CJ Baxter’s first touchdown of the year added another touchdown for Texas’ first-quarter total. A little over halfway through the second quarter, the Longhorns had a 24-3 lead after earning their fourth score of the ballgame through a running back Quintrevion Wisner four-yard rush.
Vanderbilt cut into its deficit with a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that left just seven seconds remaining on the clock before half. Down 14 to open the third quarter, the Commodores received the ball with a little momentum behind them from that 6-minute, 51-second drive. But Texas’ defense forced a 27-second three-and-out to take some of the wind out of Vanderbilt’s sails.
Texas’ offense then put together a 93-yard touchdown drive behind seven completions by quarterback Arch Manning. A field goal on the Longhorns’ subsequent drive, which got them to 34 points on the scoreboard, was all they ultimately needed to outlast Vanderbilt in DKR.
Texas pass offense
Returning from concussion protocol in time for Texas’ top 20 matchup with Vanderbilt, Manning built upon what he showed at Mississippi State versus the Commodores. The Longhorns’ redshirt sophomore quarterback converted the layups in head coach Steve Sarkisian’s offense, found his rhythm and tempo, and spread the ball around to his receivers.
Texas had eight different pass-catchers with multiple receptions and 18 or more receiving yards. Manning totaled 328 yards and three touchdowns across 25 of 33 passing.
“I do think he’s grown up,” Sarkisian said about Manning postgame. “He looks so much more mature. He looks so much more poised. He looks so much more confident, and he’s got a lot more trust in those guys around him.”
After Wingo exited with an injury on Saturday, wide receiver Emmett Mosley V really stepped into the lead pass-catching role for the Longhorns, tallying seven receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown. Mosley also had a 33-yard touchdown called back as incomplete in the fourth quarter, a play that has been deemed controversial over a potential defensive pass interference.
“He’s subtle,” Texas cornerback Malik Muhammad said about Mosley postgame. “He has elite short-area quickness. He’s strong. He’s got strong hands, good route runner and willing to block too.”
The Vanderbilt defense had no sacks and just one tackle for loss Saturday, a crucial improvement in protection for Texas’ offensive front. There were clear examples of Manning having ample or even more than enough time in the pocket to make his read, a blessing for the quarterback compared to what’s been seen at the line of scrimmage in recent weeks.
“I thought they were very effective,” Sarkisian said about his offensive linemen postgame. “This was the best protection (Manning has) gotten all year. And that’s a credit to everybody.”
Sarkisian and company made an adjustment to the personnel for this game, moving senior Cole Hutson to left guard and putting junior Connor Robertson to center, adding more experience to the front.
“It allowed (Manning) to get through reads,” Sarkisian said postgame. “When you can get to your second, third reads in a progression, that means your protection is pretty good.”
Manning took advantage of that ability, reaching 300 passing yards and completing over 75% of his passes for the third time this season.
Nov 1, 2025; Austin, Texas, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia (2) throws a pass during the first half against the Texas Longhorns at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images / Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
The Longhorns’ defense gave up little to Vanderbilt on the ground, the Commodores rushing for just 58 yards on 24 attempts, which contributed to Texas’ control of the flow for much of Saturday’s contest.
But as Vanderbilt attempted to work itself back into the game late against Texas, the Commodores found a capability to do so through chunk plays in the air.
Pavia recorded a new 2025 passing high with 365 yards. He had three passing touchdowns and added another through his legs. Vanderbilt’s quarterback found his tight end, Eli Stowers, seven times for 146 yards and two touchdowns, including a 67-yard touchdown on a blown Texas coverage with under four minutes to play.
An 89-yard touchdown drive after a Longhorns punt brought the game within three points. Across Vanderbilt’s three drives in the fourth quarter, the Commodores accumulated 233 yards on 21 plays, which was good for 11 yards a play.
“It starts with me and some of the linebackers,” linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. said about the fourth quarter postgame. “(We’ve) got to do a better job communicating. It goes down to communicating and being able to execute the gameplan. So I’ll take responsibility for that. (We’ve) got to do a good job of executing and getting the call around, so that’s really what it was.”
While Texas’ defense struggled in the fourth quarter, for much of the game, it impressed in its pressure on a gritty dual-threat improviser in Pavia. The Longhorns totaled six sacks, 10 tackles for loss and a fumble against Vanderbilt on Saturday.
Nov 1, 2025; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns defensive back Malik Muhammad (5) breaks up a pass intended for Vanderbilt Commodores tight end Eli Stowers (9) during the second half at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images / Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
Entering the final 15 minutes of the game last week, Texas trailed Mississippi State by 17. This time around, the Longhorns were leading their opposition by 24. Both meetings somehow went down to the wire.
Vanderbilt’s fourth-quarter comeback effort began with Pavia’s 25-yard rushing touchdown to cap a 77-yard, five-minute drive. Still, a failed two-point conversion maintained Texas’ three-score lead.
Texas drove 32 yards to comfortably enter Vanderbilt territory on the subsequent drive. The third-and-six incompletion to Mosley in the endzone, which, as previously mentioned, was also a controversial pass interference no-call, resulted in Shipley’s failed 51-yard field goal attempt. It took Vanderbilt just one play, through Stowers, to hit paydirt soon after.
Vanderbilt again went for two and, after review, it was ruled that wide receiver Junior Sherrell narrowly crossed the plane. The decision received loud disapproval from the Texas faithful around DKR.
“I felt like, myself included, we got too caught up in the officiating,” Sarkisian said postgame.
More refereeing controversy occurred when right tackle Brandon Baker was called for a false start on third-and-two after a Vanderbilt defensive lineman looked to enter the neutral zone. Texas, forcing Vanderbilt to take timeouts through the run game, failed to earn a first down and ended up having to punt on the Commodores’ 36-yard line.
Pavia obviously took advantage of the extra possession to cut Texas’ lead to three. The drive included a fourth-and-19 conversion from Vanderbilt’s own two-yard line.
“I felt like the breakdowns, even the touchdown at the end of the first half — and that was an absolute bust on our part — that’s uncharacteristic for us,” Sarkisian said postgame. “We’ve got to get better at that.”
Instead of a calm-ending to Texas’ return to Austin, it was everything but. Vanderbilt lined up for an onside kick, and with rain coming down, the silent nervousness around DKR spoke volumes.
The slipping, wobbling ball went through the hands of wide receiver Parker Livingstone and appeared up for grabs. It dribbled out of bounds before any approaching Commodore could gain control, and Texas survived Vanderbilt’s 21-0 fourth quarter to earn a win over another top-10 opponent.
Texas showed Saturday that how you close a game can be as important as how you open it. Now turning their attention to a Georgia team that thrives late in games, playing their brand of football for all 60 minutes will undoubtedly be a priority for Sarkisian’s Longhorns during the bye week.