Skip Bayless takes victory lap for Vanderbilt despite Texas loss

Three weeks after stunning the college football world and defeating Alabama, Vanderbilt tried to pull off another upset. The Commodores welcomed No. 5 Texas to FirstBank Stadium, and although they lost in the final minutes, alumnus Skip Bayless still congratulated the effort.

“CONGRATULATIONS TO MY VANDERBILT COMMODORES, WHO WERE 18.5-POINT UNDERDOGS AND MADE TEXAS SWEAT, 27-24,” Bayless wrote on X after the game.

Bayless has been vocal in his support of Vanderbilt over the last month. He famously took a victory lap following the win over Alabama Oct. 5 and has continued to wear his Vandy pride on his sleeve.

CONGRATULATIONS TO MY VANDERBILT COMMODORES, WHO WERE 18.5-POINT UNDERDOGS AND MADE TEXAS SWEAT, 27-24.

— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) October 26, 2024

Vanderbilt looked like it had the ingredients for another major upset, picking off Quinn Ewers twice and capitalizing on those turnovers. But the Commodores couldn’t get over the hump and a Diego Pavia interception set up a Texas field goal. That proved to be the difference as Vanderbilt scored a touchdown on the ensuing possession and fell 27-24 in Nashville.

Ewers threw a pick on his second pass of the day, but responded well to help lead Texas to the victory. He completed 27 of 37 passes for 288 yards and three touchdowns, including 97 yards and two touchdown passes to DeAndre Moore.

On the Vanderbilt side, Pavia looked impressive once again. He completed 16 of 29 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns while adding a team-high 16 carries for 67 yards and a score on the ground to lead the Commodores offense.

There was a thinking Vanderbilt had quite the opportunity to play spoiler once again. Texas was coming off a tough home loss against Georgia a week ago, further shaking up the SEC race. The Longhorns then had to turn around and go on the road to Nashville, and Sarkisian praised the way his team rose to the moment.

“It was a hard week, obviously,” Sarkisian said. “When you lose a game the way we did last week and to work yourself back, I thought our guys again showed a lot of grit. It’s unfortunate, two tipped balls, we gave them two short fields and the game got close all of a sudden. But I thought our guys played pretty well tonight.”