For all the Texas angst over Quinn Ewers’ tipped interceptions, Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia had the same thing happen to him.

Texas defensive end Ethan Burke tipped a pass near the line of scrimmage, and the ball floated up into the air and right to UT safety Michael Taaffe.

“That was kind of like, s— happens kind of thing,” Pavia said. “Quinn threw the same ball to us. Whenever it’s tipped, it’s usually the defense’s ball.”

Pavia said the Texas defensive line was the best he’s faced this season. “Those guys are getting paid, too.”

The Longhorns needed a strong defensive showing after getting put in several uncomfortable situations for the second straight game. The ’Dores scored touchdowns after getting two tipped interceptions — scoring drives that needed just 31 and 38 yards.

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But otherwise, Vanderbilt’s offense never went any farther than 43 yards all day long until they got a 75-yard scoring drive at the end to make the final score closer.

“Man, he did a great job out there,” Texas linebacker David Gbenda said. “He was trying to take his team on his back, and he was a true leader out there. I saw amazing plays and good reads out there. I saw a real warrior in him.”

Pavia completed 16 of 29 passes for 143 yards and threw two touchdowns and two interceptions total. He also rushed for a team-high 67 yards on 16 attempts and scored once on the ground.

“Even though he got out for a little bit and had to sit out, he still came back and ran that offense like a true leader that he was, and he presented a great challenge,” Gbenda said. “But I’m really proud of the defense for just showing through real adversity here.

“It wasn’t going our way for a little bit, but we stood tall, and there was no hesitation, no anger, no nothing we know we had to do. We knew the challenge, and I'm just proud of the whole team for the way we battled this week.”

Texas linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. finished with a team-high eight tackles, two quarterback hurries and one pass break-up. Safety Jelani McDonald, filling in for the injured Andrew Mukuba, had seven tackles. Taaffe and Alfred Collins both had six tackles each.

Vanderbilt finished the game 3-for-12 on third down and was 1-for-2 on fourth down. The ’Dores actually lost the time of possession, something they had been good at, and averaged 4.3 yards per play.