Everything Texas players said after win over Vanderbilt

Texas football (7-1, 3-1 SEC) bounced back from its first loss of the season with a 27-24 win over No. 25 Vanderbilt (5-3, 2-2 SEC) in Nashville.

No. 5 Texas football escapes Nashville with a win over No. 25 Vanderbilt

This is an intriguing game to dissect from a Texas point of view.

The Longhorns accomplished their ultimate goal: a win. However, this game never felt comfortable for the No. 5 team in the country.

Texas fell in an early 7-0 hole after Vanderbilt turned an early Quinn Ewers deflected interception into an 18-yard Diego Pavia touchdown run. Ewers responded as well as you could have asked, completing his subsequent 18 passes as the Horns took a 21-10 lead into the break.

The second half was more of a trudge for the Texas offense, which gained just 142 yards of total offense while averaging 3.9 yards per play. Another deflected interception from Ewers late in the third quarter set Vandy up for another short-field touchdown.

The only Commodore drive over 43 yards was their eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive at the end of the game when Texas defense mostly stayed in a shell. In other words, this defense is still elite.

If it had not been for the untimely deflected interceptions, the Horns would have won this game going away. They outgained the Commodores 392-269 and finished 9-15 on third down compared to Vanderbilt's 3-12 mark.

Red zone defense and penalties will be the two areas discussed most over the next two weeks of practice.

The Commodores have one of the best red zone offenses in the country, proving that again on Saturday. Vanderbilt scored three touchdowns on three red zone trips. As for the penalties, Texas was flagged 10 times for 108 yards. Sure, there were some questionable calls, but you cannot leave these things up to the discretion of the officials.

Texas fans can't complain too much as head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Horns move to 7-0 following a loss since 2022. Here is everything Texas players said after the win.

Quinn Ewers, QB

On the two deflected interceptions: “I mean, at the position that I play, you’ve got to be able to wipe those type of things off. For the most part, they’re out of your control.”

Michael Taaffe, S

On the burnt orange support in Nashville: “I’m so proud of Longhorn Nation. I appreciate all y'all. If y'all are listening, keep showing up. It makes a huge difference for us.”

Jake Majors, C

“It wasn’t pretty by any means. But I’m just glad that we came here, we won, we took over and we’re going home with a win.”

Jahdae Barron, DB

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