Preseason No. 1 Texas ain't dead yet: Longhorns primed for November charge following 34-31 win over Vanderbilt

AUSTIN -- Maybe all it took for Texas to look like, well, Texas was a historic comeback in Starkville.

The preseason No. 1 Longhorns largely stumbled into November with a 6-2 record: Technically alive for all their preseason goals but having provided little evidence that a SEC Championship or playoff appearance was truly possible after a series of listless performances, including back-to-back overtime wins over conference bottom-feeders Kentucky and Mississippi State, the latter of which required breaking a 429-game losing streak for teams down 17 points with 10 minutes remaining.

But sometimes it takes a view of one's own mortality to create a spark, and No. 20 Texas on Saturday looked like the contender everyone believed them to be against No. 9 Vanderbilt in a 34-31 victory, a game that was well in hand before the Commodores scored a pair of late touchdowns against a defense down two starting safeties and playing much too relaxed in the fourth quarter. 

Do not let the final frame discount the overarching message. Texas has weathered plenty of storms and is rounding into form at the perfect time of the season. 

"It takes a lot of toughness to (come back against Mississippi State), and I feel like we built a lot of calluses for games like this where we can just go play and be free," Texas linebacker Anthony Hill said. 

Playing the team's first home game since Sept. 20, the Longhorns struck instantly when Ryan Wingo turned a screen pass into a 75-yard touchdown thanks incredible open-field blocking; Wingo's 10.5-second 100-meter speed helped, too.

Texas continued landing blows from there, scoring on its first six full drives of the game.

Arch Manning, returning from a concussion he suffered against the Bulldogs, played his best game of the season. He finished 25-for-33 with 328 yards and three touchdowns.

QB1 will draw the national headlines -- he's quietly won four straight starts after being labeled college football's first flop by The Athletic -- and Sarkisian said Manning's growth this season is obvious. But Texas' bludgeoning of Vanderbilt and any hope for the future rest on what appeared to be a resurgent offensive line.

The rushing totals for Texas won't pop off the page, but the Longhorn front controlled the line of scrimmage all afternoon. Texas moved senior center Cole Hutson to left guard, replacing struggling freshman Nick Brooks, and inserted junior Connor Robertson at center. The results were instantaneous: Zero sacks and just one tackle for loss for a Vanderbilt defense that entered the week 26th in pressure rate.

Play of that level by the o-line is an offensive reality change looking toward the future for a unit that entered the week ranked 127th nationally in pressure rate allowed.

"I thought they were very effective," Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said. "It was the best protection (Arch) had all year. We made a little adjustment … that solidified things. … It allowed him to get through reads." 

Texas punted once. 

The defense, meanwhile, did what it's done all year: Stop the run.

Vanderbilt confounds teams weekly with its eye-candy, counters and option looks in its run game, ranking third nationally with 6.21 yards per carry. Texas made that part of the Commodores offense a non-factor, limiting Vanderbilt to 2.4 yards per carry. And when Heisman contender Diego Pavia dropped back to pass, he constantly had Longhorn pass rushers in his face with Texas totaling 10 tackles for loss and six sacks against a Commodores unit that had allowed just seven sacks all season.

"We just got home, made them feel our presence and got them off their spot," Hill said. 

On the national and conference level, this was a consequential result. 

Not only does it leave Vanderbilt no margin for error in the College Football Playoff race at 7-2 with remaining games against Auburn, Kentucky and Tennessee. But it's a win that suddenly vaults the Longhorns back into realistic SEC contention. For all the angst in Austin, the Longhorns sit at 4-1 in SEC play and control their own destiny in terms of the SEC Championship game with games ahead against Georgia, Arkansas and Texas A&M.

In some ways the league will run through Austin down the stretch.

The loser of Georgia and Texas is basically out of the SEC race. If Texas wins that game, the winner of Texas and Texas A&M is likely for a SEC title spot, too. And if you care about the coaching carousel, how Bobby Peterino fares against Texas will contribute to his candidacy for the full-time gig in Fayetteville.

A win over Vanderbilt -- even a top 10 Vanderbilt team that drew a comical "overrated" chant from Texas fans -- is ultimately just a single data point in what is a long season. But this is the best the Longhorns have looked this year, and it could not have come at a better time.

Texas found a way to win in Lexington and Starkville. The Longhorns hit their bye week with serious momentum and all their goals ahead of them. This was the message Sarkisian wanted to hammer home when he told his team pregame about the importance of the November stretch run.

"We're very hungry," Sarkisian said. "I didn't love our schedule the fact we were gone 42 days from home, but in the end, it was probably the best thing for us for this group to really grow together and lock arms and fight and compete together with a common goal."

Turns out the preseason No. 1 team has plenty of life left.