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    • Losing to Texas was not a moral victory. Vanderbilt Football could have won
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    Losing to Texas was not a moral victory. Vanderbilt Football could have won

    Vaseline Posted on

    Some moments in sports cry out for perspective, whether it’s celebration or heartbreak.

    That’s why the victorious coach of a top-10 college football team, in the aftermath of a breakaway as heavy favorite, talked about bad breaks, tipped interceptions and overcoming a deflating loss from the week before.

    Texas’ Steve Sarkisian stood on the Vanderbilt football field and surmised on SEC Network that all things considered, “I thought our guys played pretty well tonight.”

    Could Vanderbilt say the same? Not really. The Commodores played extremely hard, but they didn’t play that well. Statistics backed that up. Sarkisian’s colleague on the other sideline did the same.

    “We were very clear about what our strategy is and what our formula for winning is,” Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea told reporters afterward. “We fell short.”

    But then. . . How the hell was it so close?

    Texas 27, Vanderbilt 24.

    Serious?

    Sarkisian’s Longhorns won by 19 points in Ann Arbor, defeating rival Oklahoma 34-3. If I had known in advance that Texas would leave Nashville happy with the way it played, and that Vanderbilt wouldn’t, I would have braced for a score similar to Lea’s first three seasons.

    In four games against top five opponents from 2021 to 2023, Vanderbilt lost by a combined score of 209-23. The average margin is 52-6.

    See what I mean about perspective?

    This was nothing like those games. Vanderbilt dragged Texas into the type of thriller you couldn’t look away from. Every game felt important, from the first minute to the last.

    That happened a lot – against enemies good and bad – during this charmed season of Diego Pavia and Jerry Kill. As enamored as college football has become with these plucky Commodores, there are still the sore thumbs of a loss at Georgia State or the struggle for a win at home against Ball State to stand out and tap on the shoulder to add to it remember: “It’s still Vanderbilt, you know?”

    Previously: Don’t worry about Jerry Kill. He’s busy reviving Vanderbilt football | Estes

    At the same time, other moments have commanded respect. Beating Alabama (after Virginia Tech) was special, but a lot went right that day against a declining Crimson Tide. Vanderbilt’s victory in Kentucky was about legitimacy. A lot went right in Lexington, too, especially thanks to the Wildcats, who dropped that game for the Commodores to grab.

    As strange as it sounds after a loss, Vanderbilt proved more against Texas than in any game this season.

    Because look what went against the Commodores on Saturday:

    They didn’t have an offensive play longer than 21 yards. They didn’t win any time of possession, which they had dominated against Alabama. They went 3-for-12 on third down. They lost three turnovers.

    They also had a deflected interception. They had the bad break where Sedrick Alexander fumbled as he fell, his knee a millimeter off the ground, just because he was fighting for extra yards. Both turnovers were on the Texas side of 50.

    There was a nifty fourth call that was negated because Quincy Skinner – on the other side of the field, away from the play – was not on the line of scrimmage.

    These huge swings in momentum helped the Longhorns take control with three touchdowns before halftime.

    But you know what? Texas didn’t score a touchdown after halftime. All that talent and all that speed, and the Longhorns couldn’t put aside the pesky Commodores. Twice in the fourth quarter, Vanderbilt’s offense ran the football just needing a touchdown to tie the score.

    Recommended reading: Diego Pavia’s family joins him in the thrill ride of being a QB during a football season at Vanderbilt

    Give Texas credit for preventing Vanderbilt from getting that tying touchdown and ultimately recovering an onside kick to cap off a win that doesn’t get the credit it deserves elsewhere.

    I’m not going to call this a moral victory for Vanderbilt. Out of respect. Even more than before Saturday, I respect the qualities of a team capable of taking on Texas, as Vanderbilt did without its best performance. Bold underdogs don’t do that. Only formidable teams do that.

    “We’re interested in winning,” Lea said. “We are not interested in coming up short. . . There is more we can do to find a way to win that one.”

    He’s right.

    That’s why Vanderbilt should be disappointed tonight.

    It is also why the country should be more encouraged about its program than it has been in a long time.

    Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at [email protected] and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.

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