Vanderbilt – The Daily Texan

Texas suffered its first loss of the year last weekend in a game against longtime conference powerhouse Georgia. The Longhorns suffered this loss as the No. 1 team in the country fell four spots to No. 5 in the AP poll. Now that Texas has suffered a loss, it must do everything in its power to win, which is an easy task on paper, but no team in the SEC is safe this year. Texas needs to pay particular attention to its next opponent, No. 25 Vanderbilt.

Not a single football fan, analyst or even player believed that Vanderbilt would enter the 2024 season not only as a team with a winning record, but also as a team capable of competing with some of the best football programs. Things showed promise early on as the first two games were split. In the fourth game, the team lost to Missouri by only three points. Only when it won back then – no. 1 Alabama that the college football world realized that Vanderbilt could be the real deal.

Graduate quarterback Diego Pavia, a transfer from New Mexico State, is determined to lead his team to more wins after defeating the Crimson Tide. Pavia’s stats are respectable: He threw for more than 250 yards in three games this season and two or more passing touchdowns in five games. It’s not necessarily incredible stats that Pavia brings to his team, but it is a leadership drive. He’s a quarterback who knows how to fire up his teammates, and Pavia and Vanderbilt, now ranked for the first time since 2013, have something to fight for.

Even though Texas is the clear favorite in this duel, he can’t fall asleep at the wheel. After last week’s loss, the Longhorns most likely realized the importance of treating every game as if it were their biggest game. Head coach Steve Sarkisian was already aware that Vanderbilt has the potential to beat tough teams and was right when he said the Longhorns face a gauntlet with both Georgia and Vanderbilt.

So far this season, all but one of Vanderbilt’s games have been close, with five of them resulting in a point differential. Vanderbilt remains in the bottom half of the conference in total yards and yards per game, but ranks seventh in the SEC in total points and points per game.

Although they may not be the most productive team statistically, this underdog team will fight until the end of every game they play. The best way to determine who will win a game like this is to see who can limit their mistakes and who wants to win more. Given the way Vanderbilt has been playing, the team definitely wants these wins. The question is: Will Texas help the Commodores by playing themselves like they did against Georgia? Vanderbilt’s biggest advantage this Saturday will be its home field advantage over the Longhorns.