Arch Manning throws 3 TDs as No. 20 Texas takes down No. 9 Vanderbilt despite late Commodores rally

Texas is finally showing flashes of why it was No. 1 to start the season.

The No. 20 Longhorns kept their College Football Playoff hopes alive with a 34-22 win over No. 9 Vanderbilt as Arch Manning had his best game of the season ... and yet the Longhorns made it way closer than the game should have been.

Advertisement

The Longhorns led 34-10 with six seconds to go in the third quarter before Vanderbilt scored two touchdowns in the final four minutes. Vandy's second TD, with 33 seconds left, led to an onside kick that Vanderbilt nearly recovered before the ball went out of bounds.

“We’re always going to make things interesting around here I guess,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said to open his postgame interview with ESPN.

Texas scored on the first offensive play of the game when Manning found Ryan Wingo for a 75-yard TD.

Not long after, the Longhorns had a 17-0 lead and Vanderbilt, a team not built to quickly come back from a big deficit, had a massive hill to climb.

Advertisement

The Commodores cut the Texas lead to 14 just before halftime thanks to some shoddy tackling by the Texas secondary on a TD pass from Diego Pavia to Eli Stowers. But the Texas defense forced a three-and-out to start the second half and the Longhorns immediately pushed the lead back to three scores when Manning found Emmett Mosley V for a 6-yard TD.

Manning finished the game 25-of-33 passing for 328 yards and three touchdowns. It was his second straight game with over 300 yards and three touchdowns, and just the third time all season that he’s thrown for more than 300 yards.

The redshirt sophomore was questionable for most of the week after he suffered a concussion on the first play of overtime in the Longhorns’ comeback win over Mississippi State. However, Manning was taken off Texas’ injury report on Friday night and cleared to start.

Advertisement

After a first half to forget against the Bulldogs, Manning helped lead the Longhorns’ rally to force an extra period and had 346 yards passing and three touchdowns before he was injured.

He carried over that strong play into Saturday, though he did get a lot of help from a Vanderbilt defense that had a hard time tackling in the first half.

Texas may have a better playoff shot than you think

The Longhorns haven’t been impressive for much of the season and entered Saturday’s game on the heels of back-to-back overtime wins at Kentucky and Mississippi State. Neither team has won an SEC game so far this season.

Advertisement

And the end to the win over Vanderbilt wasn't pretty, either. Texas' defense absolutely blew a coverage that allowed Vanderbilt to cut the lead to 12 on a 67-yard TD pass and the offense couldn't get a few first downs to run out the clock when needed.

But we’re going to warn you, be prepared for Texas to be in the thick of the playoff conversation even if the Longhorns finish the season 9-3.

Here’s why: Texas has games remaining against No. 5 Georgia and No. 3 Texas A&M sandwiching a home game against Arkansas. If the Longhorns win all three of those games, they’re a shoo-in for the playoff and may even be playing for the SEC title for a second straight season.

Advertisement

If they split the games against the Bulldogs and Aggies and beat Arkansas, Texas could have a much more compelling playoff case than Alabama did at 9-3 a year ago because two of the Longhorns’ three losses would be to teams potentially in the top five of the playoff rankings.

Diego Pavia’s Heisman campaign is probably over

Pavia entered Week 10 on the fringes of the Heisman race and had a real chance to be a finalist if the Commodores finished 11-1.

Instead, Saturday’s game started poorly for him. After Texas scored on its first offensive play of the game, Pavia fumbled on the fourth play of the Commodores’ opening possession.

Pavia rebounded to throw for three touchdowns and run for another with a gaudy stat line, but it’s hard to see how he’s going to be a contender even if Vanderbilt finishes the season at 10-2.

Advertisement

Are the Commodores’ playoff hopes toast, too? Probably not. Wins over Kentucky, Auburn and No. 13 Tennessee will make Vandy 10-2. But the head-to-head loss to Texas could end up being a big deal, even if the Longhorns have an extra loss.

Click here to read article