Texas Longhorns Nearly Plagued by Failure to Convert Turnovers into Touchdowns

The Texas Longhorns lost the turnover battle in their loss to Georgia, and not being able to capitalize on them again nearly cost Texas its win over Vanderbilt.

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers (3) throws against the Vanderbilt Commodores during the first half of their game at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville on Oct. 26, 2024. / Denny Simmons / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Facing their second-consecutive ranked SEC opponent this weekend and coming out of their first loss on the season, the Texas Longhorns knew they had to play a pristine football game if they wanted to see victory against Vanderbilt.

And despite starting junior quarterback Quinn Ewers throwing a near-perfect first half, landing a 90 percent pass completion rating, his two tipped-ball interceptions in the game nearly aided an upset win for Vanderbilt.

Ewers had one turnover in the first quarter and another in the third, with both times ultimately resulting in a touchdown for the Commodores.

Vanderbilt's offense wasn't all glitter and gold itself, as graduate quarterback Diego Pavia also threw two interceptions, once in the second quarter and again in the fourth. The Commodores additionally had a fumble with a minute left before halftime, but all three of these turnovers would only amount to three points for the Longhorns.

Losing the turnover battle was an issue that cost Texas the game versus Georgia just the weekend prior, and if not for the single field goal that the Longhorns knocked in off Pavia's interception late in the fourth quarter, the matchup would have gone into overtime.

In the contest against Georgia, the Bulldogs were similarly able to capitalize off turnovers while the Longhorns were left unsuccessful, as Texas was outscored 17-7 off three fumble recoveries and an interception.

During the team's postgame press conference following the 27-24 win in Nashville, head coach Steve Sarkisian made it clear that he was still proud of Ewers' performance in wake of his two intercepted passes.

"It's not his fault, it's not anybody's fault, sometimes that just happens, balls get tipped," Sarkisian said. "I really don't fault him for those things, it was really just unfortunate, cause I thought he played a really good football game tonight. He just kind of had some bad luck with the tips."

It seemed that the Commodores got the luck instead in the sense that they had less space to work with when they caught Ewers' interceptions. The Vanderbilt offense had to clear just 69 combined yards to make it into the end zone twice, while the Texas offense had to haul across 263 combined yards after penalties.

While Sarkisian was content with the way his team forced three turnovers in a single game, surpassing Vanderbilt's mere two on the season so far, he has continuously spoken about the issue of not being able to convert those turnovers into scoring opportunities.

The Longhorns will now enter their second bye week before playing back home at Darrell K. Royal Stadium to take on the Florida Gators, giving them plenty of time to reassess how to overcome the turnover battle.

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