Who's next for Texas football: A first look at No. 9 Vanderbilt

After four straight games away from the friendly confines of Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, the No. 20 Texas Longhorns play their first home conference game of the 2025 season on Saturday, November 1 in a ranked vs. ranked matchup with the No. 9 Vanderbilt Commodores.

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Here’s what the ‘Dores bring to the table.

Upcoming opponent: Vanderbilt Commodores

Head coach: Clark Lea (5th season at Vanderbilt) 23-34

2025 record: 7-1

Last game: Vanderbilt defeated Missouri, 17-10

Star offensive performer last time out: RB Makhilyn Young – four rushes, 86 yards, 1 TD

Star defensive performer last time out: LB Bryan Longwell – 13 tackles

Quarterback: Diego Pavia – 139-for-202 for 1698 yards with 15 touchdowns and five interceptions, 85 rushes for 458 yards and five touchdowns

Offense: Lea spearheaded the “import an OC and QB” movement by bringing Tim Beck (not the former Texas offensive coordinator), Jerry Kill, and Diego Pavia to Nashville after that trio went 17-11 with a bowl win and an appearance in the Conference USA Championship game across 2023 and 2024 at New Mexico State. Pavia is the catalyst for an offense that combines option principles with regular passing concepts in order to limit negative plays. Vanderbilt is tied for fifth nationally in TFLs allowed. Other notable pieces of the offense include tight end Eli Stowers, running back Sedrick Alexander, running back Makhilyn Young, and wide receiver Junior Sherrill. While the Commodore offense is typically designed to mitigate talent disadvantages, Vanderbilt has leveled up its talent in recent years and also fields one of the most veteran teams in college football with 28 juniors, 19 seniors, and 26 listed as a “graduate.”

Defense: Lea, who was Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator prior to returning to his alma mater, runs a conventional defense with a mix of three- and four-down linemen looks. Vanderbilt utilizes a weakside EDGE player to either drop into coverage or bring another man on regular pressures, giving the Commodores the ability to easily switch between even and odd fronts. Against Missouri, Vandy put a lot of two-high looks on tape.

Texans on the roster

• S Dontae Carter
• WR Trent Hudson
• DB Randon Fontenette
• WR Tristen Brown
• QB Drew Dickey
• TE Eli Stowers
• DB Jalen Gilbert
• RB Makhilyn Young
• RB AJ Newberry
• RB Sedrick Alexander
• CB Trudell Berry
• LS Durham Harris
• K Justin Dewers
• OL Orion Irving
• OL Keegan Wechsler
• WR Cameran Dickson
• DL Hayden Bray

Former Longhorns on the roster

• DL Aaron Bryant

This guy is on their team?

• QB Diego Pavia – Pavia spent two seasons at New Mexico Military Institute in the NJCAA, then two seasons at New Mexico State, and is now in his second season at Vanderbilt. That’s six seasons with the COVID 2020 season thrown in there. While that one doesn’t count, that’s still a long time and it’s more than the normal five years to play four seasons of college football most players receive. Pavia has been involved in litigation that not only let him return to college football, but keep the door open for another year if he chose to play it (he has publicly denied interest). The veteran and Heisman hopeful has turned around the Commodore football program and wants to keep it on the rise, even if it means approaching tenure with the NCAA.

All-time series: Vanderbilt leads 8-4-1

Last matchup: One week after the Longhorns suffered their only regular season loss of the 2024 campaign to Georgia, Texas went to Nashville to take on a Vanderbilt team still riding high from the upset over Alabama but in the early stages of its rise. Two Texas turnovers led to 14 Commodore points, but two touchdown receptions from DeAndre Moore and one scoring catch from Matthew Golden plus two second-half field goals from Bert Auburn helped stave off Vanderbilt’s attempt at another top-five upset.

Upcoming matchup:

• Teams: No. 20 Texas vs. No. 9 Vanderbilt
• Date: November 1
• Time: 11 a.m.
• Location: Darrell K Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium
• TV: ABC
• Current points spread on BetMGM: Texas -2.5