How Texas Longhorns Stifled Vanderbilt's High-Powered Rushing Attack

For Texas, an emphasis and one of the keys to victory had to be slowing down Vanderbilt on the ground, as the Commodores entered the game with one of the top rushing attacks in the SEC, totaling 1,627 yards on 262 attempts while averaging over six yards a carry and 24 combined touchdowns on the ground.

However, against the Longhorns, the Commodores' ground game was firmly held in check as Vanderbilt ended the matchup with 58 yards rushing on 24 attempts for a poor 2.4 yards per carry.

Steve Sarkisian was complimentary of his defense's performance against the Commodores; however, he does recognize the struggles the unit had coming down the stretch that allowed Vanderbilt to make the game a lot more interesting.

"Defensively, we played well; you get six sacks, a turnover, and 10 tackles for loss," Sarkisian said. "Just a little unfortunate that we gave up a couple of those plays late. We'll get some of that fixed, and we'll get some guys back healthy."

The biggest piece to Vanderbilt's ground game is their quarterback, Diego Pavia, who, through eight games, recorded 458 yards on 85 attempts and five rushing touchdowns as the Commodores' leading rusher.

But against Texas, Paiva was stifled, finishing the game with 43 rushing yards on 14 carries for an average yards per carry of just a bit over three and a touchdown, where the quarterback gained 25 of his 43 yards on the day.

Leading the change was starting edge rusher Colin Simmons, who finished the game with five tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and a sack fumble, which the sophomore recovered himself. Texas also got a big-time performance from the opposite side of the edge, also with edge rusher Ethan Burke finishing the game with three tackles for loss and two sacks.

Also getting in on the action were five other Longhorns defensive players who recorded at least one tackle for loss, and three of whom also recorded a sack.