Coming off a tough loss to one of the nation’s top teams, No. 5 Texas might well have its hands full again when it tangles with No. 25 Vanderbilt in Nashville on Saturday.
The Longhorns (6-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) stumbled out of the gate last weekend against visiting Georgia. Texas gained just 38 yards in the first half, falling behind 23-0 in an eventual 30-15 loss to the then-fifth-ranked Bulldogs.
“When you’re playing in games with quality people on both teams, effort is one piece of the ingredient,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “Execution is the other piece of the ingredient. We just did not have great execution … and most notably, we did not have great execution at critical moments. … We were 2 of 14 on third down and we were 1 of 5 on fourth down.
Vanderbilt (5-2, 2-1) came away with a 24-14 win last weekend over visiting Ball State, but the Commodores didn’t exactly draw rave reviews from coach Clark Lea.
“We unpacked the Ball State game, and I’m happy with the result but unhappy with the performance,” Lea said. “I think (we were) fortunate to come away with a 10-point win in a game where we had room to separate earlier.”
Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia threw for 275 yards and a touchdown while adding 82 rushing yards and another score. The victory was good enough to get the Commodores their first AP ranking since the final poll of the 2013 season.
While the Longhorns enter as 18-plus-point favorites, the Commodores have already scored three wins (Virginia Tech, Alabama and Kentucky) as double-digit underdogs, the first two coming in Nashville.
Vanderbilt’s winning formula is no secret. Just check the stat sheet.
“They run the football,” Sarkisian said. “They burn a lot of clock. They lead the conference in time of possession. They lead the conference in third-down conversion rate. They only have two turnovers on the year, which leads the SEC. They’re really efficient. They play really good complementary football.”
The key is Pavia, the New Mexico State transfer who has completed 66.2 percent of his throws for 1,391 yards and 11 touchdowns with one interception. He also has 470 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
Fellow New Mexico State transfer Eli Stowers (33 catches, 463 yards, two touchdowns) is Pavia’s favorite target, a sure-handed tight end who is tough to bring down.
Stowers — originally a Texas A&M quarterback — has even thrown a touchdown as part of a hard-to-predict offense that can feature three running backs as part of an option-based look on one snap, and an empty-backfield set on the next.
However, the Commodores haven’t seen a defense like Texas’. The Longhorns rank No. 1 in the country in scoring defense (9.71 points per game) and total defense (237.3 yards per game).
Sarkisian said on Monday that safety Andrew Mukuba (25 tackles, two interceptions) is questionable for Saturday after hurting a knee vs. Georgia.
Still, the Longhorns have plenty of play-makers, including linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. (50 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks and an interception), cornerback Jahdae Barron (26 tackles, three interceptions, five pass break-ups) and edge rusher Barryn Sorrell (15 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and seven hurries).
Vanderbilt’s defense allows 22.1 points and 331.4 yards per contest. The Commodores surrendered a combined 27 points to Kentucky and Ball State, and they did so without starting linebacker Langston Patterson (ankle) and mostly without starting defensive end Miles Capers (neck). Both could be back to oppose Texas.
