Live Blog: No. 9 Vanderbilt Football at. No. 20 Texas

One of the biggest games of the season has arrived. When No. 9 Vanderbilt takes the field with No. 20 Texas, the two schools will play with plenty of things on the line. From SEC standing position to SEC Championship hopes to College Football Playoff hopes. Vanderbilt and Texas have a lot to play for.

For Vanderbilt, the Commodores are looking for its third consecutive win with all three being against teams ranked inside the AP Top 20. After the loss to Alabama on the road, Vanderbilt bounced back with home wins against No. 10 LSU and No. 15 Missouri. At 7-1, Vanderbilt likely has room to lose a game if it wants an at-large bid in the playoff bracket.

However, a loss today for the Commodores would be devastating to their odds to make it to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game. Bottom line for Vanderbilt: just keep winning. As long as Vanderbilt continues to play the way it has, it controls its own postseason destiny.

For Texas, the Longhorns are at two losses already with three top-10 teams on their schedule, including today. It is more than likely do or die for Texas today in terms of playoff and SEC Championship Game hopes. Vanderbilt can and should expect a desperate Texas team this afternoon.

A year ago, Vanderbilt came up a field goal short of upsetting Texas in Nashville. Turnovers in critical points held the Commodores back from pulling off another shocker in 2024. This year, they hope to return the favor and continue to boost their resume before the first edition of the College Football Playoff rankings comes out Nov. 4.

Follow the live blog here for live updates from today's Vanderbilt-Texas game.

Live Blog

Be sure to refresh your browser for live updates from Vanderbilt vs. Texas. The most recent updates will appear at the top.

4th Quarter

Texas recovers the onside kick after the ball rolls out of bounds. Man oh man, Vanderbilt had chances to get the ball, but could not. That will end the game. Texas wins 34-31.

Richie Hoskins catches a touchdown with 33 seconds left to make it 34-31 Texas. It all comes down to an onside kick for Vanderbilt. The game is not quite over.

Vanderbilt forces a punt with 3:04 left. Commodores down 10 points with 90 yards to go on this drive.

Vanderbilt tight end Eli Stowers finds himself wide open down the field for his longest touchdown catch of his career. A 67-yard touchdown for Stowers makes it 34-24 after the 2-point conversion was barely made.

Pavia runs it 25 yards for a touchdown, but Diego Pavia draws a flag after the play. Texas fans chanting "overrated" at Pavia and the Vanderbilt team. 34-16 Texas after Vanderbilt misses the two-point conversion.

3rd Quarter

Texas hits a 37-yard field goal and it is 34-10 Texas. Vanderbilt unable to get anything going on both sides of the ball.

Brock Taylor misses his first field since September 2024's game at Missouri. 31-10 Texas still. At this point, I would not have minded if Vanderbilt had tried a 4th down play given it would have been a three-possession game regardless of a made field goal or not.

Texas goes down the field for another touchdown. Arch Manning was able to complete two third down throws along the way. The Vanderbilt pass rush was unable to get home when it needed to on that drive. 31-10 Texas.

Vanderbilt goes three and out to start the half. Two crucial drops from Tre Richardson and Eli Stowers there. Dropped passes are not going to help in any way.

2nd Quarter

Eli Stowers gets a big touchdown right before halftime. Much needed touchdown there. 24-10 Texas. Vanderbilt gets the ball out of the locker rooms. Going to need another touchdown then, too.

Texas drives right down the field for another scoring drive. This time it is a touchdown for Quintrevion Wisner. 24-3 Texas.

Pavia is unable to escape on 3rd and 10, but Brock Taylor hits on a 44-yard field goal to make it 17-3 Texas. Vanderbilt defense has to settle in. Plenty of time to get back in this game.

"There's not a lot to like from that first quarter. We need to hit the reset button and play Vanderbilt football," Clark Lea said to ESPN.

1st Quarter

Texas running back CJ Baxter sneaks out of backfield and catches a touchdown. 17-0 Texas. Vanderbilt is just getting punched over and over in the mouth. Let's see if they can respond.

The tackling effort today has been poor to say the least. CJ Heard has four missed tackles from my count, which is uncharacteristic of his usual game. Texas inside the Vanderbilt 15-yard line.

Vanderbilt's drive stalls at midfield. It made it down to the Texas 40-yard line for what would have been a 4th and 1, but holding on Jordan White pushed Vanderbilt back to a 3rd and 11, where Pavia had to throw it away. Penalties kill the drive. Vanderbilt cannot afford to give up more points to Texas. The defense has pressure on itself to keep this a two-possession game.

Vanderbilt hold Texas to a 39-yard field goal to make it 10-0 Texas. Good job to hold the Longhorns to get a field goal, but Vanderbilt needs to get the offense going.

Man oh man the bad start continues. Pavia fumbled the ball after faking a handoff to Sedrick Alexander. Texas gets the ball on Vanderbilt's 29-yard line.

Terrible start for Vanderbilt's defense. Texas wide receiver Ryan Wingo takes a short pass to the house for a 75-yard touchdown. Texas had the blockers ready and nobody on the Commodore defense had an angle to tackle Wingo. 7-0 Texas.

Pregame

Texas will start with the ball first. Vanderbilt won the toss and deferred to the second half.

Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and Kirk Herbstreit picked Vanderbilt to win. Nick Saban and Alex Smith picked Texas on College Gameday.

Update: Texas linebacker Michael Taaffe is officially OUT for the game, according to Pete Nakos. Vanderbilt's offense gets some help pregame.

Here is everything Diego Pavia told SEC Network's Marty Smith pregame.

The Vanderbilt On SI crew is covering today’s Vanderbilt-Texas game remotely today, but there will be a couple pregame notes to keep track of that will be posted on the live blog. The notes to watch out for is the injury status of Texas linebacker Michael Taaffe, who is currently listed as doubtful to play.

Weather Report

It is a decent day for November football in Austin, despite the fact that the Vandy On SI staff is working remotely today. The temperature in Austin today is 68 degrees at kickoff with cloudy weather. Temperatures will stay relatively the same throughout the game with the temperature forecasted to be 67 by the end of the game. With the cloudiness, there is a small chance there could be rain in the forecast toward the end of the game according to the radar.