NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Quinn Ewers threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns as No. 5 Texas defeated No. 25 Vanderbilt 27-24 on Saturday in its Southeastern Conference road opener.

The Longhorns (7-1, 3-1) rebounded from last week’s loss against Georgia to move into the No. 1 ranking. These new league teammates, who also defeated Vanderbilt in Nashville for the first time since 1925, renewed the latest rivalry. It was played in Dallas in 1928.

Vanderbilt (5-3, 2-2) snapped a three-game winning streak in its first game in the top 25 since the 2012 Music City Bowl. This was the Commodores’ first regular season game as a ranked team since October 18, 2008, when they played three games among the top 25 teams.

They had a chance when Diego Pavia scored twice after Texas took a 24-10 lead in the third. Pavia’s second TD pass, an 8-yard pass to Eli Stowers with 46 seconds left, gave Vanderbilt a 27-24 lead.

Texas easily recovered Vanderbilt’s onside kick attempt to secure the victory.

The Longhorns opened slowly on the opening drive, a holding penalty followed by a tipped pass from Ewers that was picked up by Martel Hight. Vanderbilt needed just five plays for Pavia to kick an 18-yard field goal and take a 7-0 lead.

Ewers completed his next 17 passes. He threw a 3-yard TD to Matthew Golden and DeAndre Moore Jr. late in the first quarter on the Longhorns’ next drive. He connected with TD for a 27-yard TD to take a 14-7 lead that Texas never lost.

The Texas quarterback caught Moore again for a 25-yard catch down the left sideline for a 21-7 lead in the second. Ewers did not miss a shot until the last minute of the first half.

Pavia threw for 143 yards and rushed for another 67 yards and a score. After an interception by Miles Capers, Pavia tried to rally Vanderbilt, finding Junior Sherrill on fourth-and-goal with a 3-yard TD pass late in the third quarter.

Texas linebacker Liona Lefau picked off Pavia’s pass on fourth-and-2 with 5:05 left and set up Bert Auburn’s second field goal with 3:11 left.

Survey results

Texas might not gain as many style points from the Longhorns’ first road win in the league, but Vanderbilt came in having lost its first two games by a combined seven points. An argument could be made that the Commodores deserved to remain at the bottom of the AP Top 25 after going 3-1 in October.

Takeaways

Texas: The Longhorns gave up four sacks and were sloppy with 10 penalties for 108 yards. They overcame that by defeating Vandy 392-269.

Vanderbilt: The Commodores showed that their win against Alabama on October 5 was no fluke, they just lost to a top 5 team by three points.

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Texas has an open date before hosting Florida on Saturday, Nov. 9, while Vanderbilt will visit Auburn next.