Arch Manning passed for 328 yards and three touchdowns as No. 20 Texas ruled the first three quarters and had enough down the stretch to beat No. 9 Vanderbilt 34-31 on Saturday in a wild Southeastern Conference clash in Austin, Texas.
Manning, who was not cleared to play until Friday after suffering a concussion in Texas’ OT win at Mississippi State on Oct. 25, connected with 10 different receivers and was not sacked as the Longhorns (7-2, 4-1 SEC) put themselves squarely back into the conference championship picture and more with their fourth straight win.
Never-say-die Diego Pavia amassed 408 yards that included a career-high 365 through the air and scrambled for a 25-yard touchdown with 10:05 to play that brought Vanderbilt to within 18 points. The Commodores (7-2, 3-2 SEC), who were facing their fourth straight game (and their fifth this season) against an opponent ranked in the top 20 of the AP poll, had a two-game winning streak snapped.
Pavia’s 67-yard scoring pass to Eli Stowers with 3:54 remaining and his two-point conversion pass to Junior Sherrill closed the gap to 10 points. Pavia then hit Richie Hoskins from 8 yards away to bring the Commodores to within three with 33 seconds on the clock, but the ensuing onside kick rolled out of bounds, and Texas held on.
Stowers finished with 146 yards and two scores receiving for Vanderbilt.
The Longhorns struck on the game’s first play as Ryan Wingo turned a swing pass into a 75-yard catch and run touchdown. Texas’ Colin Simmons forced and recovered a fumble by Pavia on Vanderbilt’s first possession, leading to a 39-yard field goal by Mason Shipley that expanded the Longhorns’ lead to 10-0 three and a half minutes into the contest.
Manning found C.J. Baxter on a 6-yard scoring pass to make it 17-0 with 2:11 left in the first quarter.
Brock Taylor got the Commodores on the board with a 44-yard FG at the 11:22 mark of the second quarter. Texas answered with a 4-yard touchdown run by Quintrevion Wisner with seven minutes to play until halftime, stoking the Longhorns’ lead to 24-3.
Pavia engineered a 75-yard, 13-play drive that consumed almost the rest of the quarter, finding Stowers on an 18-yard touchdown pass to cut Vanderbilt’s deficit to 24-10 at the break.
Manning added to the lead on Texas’ first possession of the third quarter, hitting Emmett Mosley V on a 6-yard slant pass for a TD to push the margin back to 21 points. Shipley’s 37-yard FG with six seconds remaining in the quarter stoked the lead to 34-10.
