Vanderbilt hopes to continue winning ways against Texas once Longhorns join SEC

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — When the SEC released its list of opponents for the 2024 season last month, several games immediately drew the attention of Texas fans.

A meeting with the current king of college football, Georgia? Let’s see where Texas really stands.

The renewal of the once-bitter Southwest Conference blood feud with Arkansas? Yes, please.

A rare game with a fellow state-school power in Florida? Good chance to compare the two best recruiting states in the nation.

The family reunion of sorts with Texas A&M? Thankfully, the decade-long drought is over. The continuation of the Red River Rivalry against Oklahoma? Expected but still exciting.

And a meeting with a noted Longhorns nemesis in Vanderbilt? Wait. What?

The official schedule for Texas’ inaugural SEC campaign won’t be released until next year, but the Longhorns do know they will travel to Nashville to face Vanderbilt. Based on history, that’s bad news for a Texas team that has won only three times in 12 meetings with the Commodores.

More: The Texas/OU effect: SEC will move its football media days to Dallas in 2024

But when was the last time the teams met?

“That must have been a long time ago,” said Vanderbilt linebacker Ethan Barr, a two-time team captain who played his high school ball at Flower Mound Marcus High School, outside of Dallas.

Barr’s correct. Texas and Vanderbilt haven’t faced each other in almost a century, when the Commodores edged the Longhorns 13-12 in 1928. Vanderbilt might now be a perennial cellar dweller in the SEC, but it’s one of only two teams in the SEC that have a winning record against Texas. South Carolina is the other, and the Gamecocks’ only meeting with Texas came in 1957.

By the way, Barr told History of Longhorn Sports on Tuesday that he grew up a Texas fan during the Colt McCoy era in the late 2000s, but his only in-state scholarship offer came from Texas State.

More: SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey: College football needs federal NIL guidelines

Adding Texas, OU 'a statement' for SEC

On Tuesday, Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea offered only a bemused smile when asked about his team’s chances against Texas next season, when the Longhorns and Oklahoma join the SEC.

“Well, obviously you're talking to a football coach ahead of fall camp, so my scope is pretty narrow,” Lea said. “I'm excited about the way the league is expanding. I think obviously to add Texas and Oklahoma is a statement, and as a competitor, no matter where you are, if you're a real competitor, you're looking to measure yourself against the very best.”

Vanderbilt is far from the SEC’s very best, but the team made strides in 2022 under Lea, a proud Nashville native who’s about to start his third season as his hometown school’s head coach. The Commodores snapped a 26-game conference losing streak when they beat Kentucky 24-21 last season, and they followed that up with an impressive 31-24 victory over Florida the next week.

“Those were my two first SEC wins, and to be able to get those back-to-back last season, it was amazing,” Barr said. “It really just solidified some of the things that we had been working on so hard and being able to close out some of those close games. So we can really build on that from last season.”

More: Bohls: As signs point to a rebound, is Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher's seat all that hot?

The Commodores have only had two winning seasons in SEC play since 1959, but a 5-7 record in 2022 matched the win total from the previous three seasons combined. Lea thinks returning starting quarterback A.J. Swann and an improved defense can help the Commodores reach their first bowl game since 2018 and push for a winning conference mark.

“Though we can celebrate progress, we will never be satisfied with 5-7,” Lea said. “Vanderbilt football pursues success at the highest level, and we will not back down from our mission to build the best college football program in the nation.

“Our goal is postseason play. The margins remain razor thin for our program, and the difference between achieving our goal and being left in the wake of disappointment likely comes down to a handful of snaps this season.”

But will the arrival of Texas and Oklahoma create more wake for a Vanderbilt program trying to keep its head above the choppy SEC waters? Lea welcomes the challenge.

“No matter who we play against this year or next year, the goal is that they play against a team that knows perfectly who they are, plays to an identity, and has weaponized that identity to puncture the shell of the opponent,” he said. “I want everyone we play against to leave the field having learned something about themselves because that Vanderbilt group is really tough and relentless and never stops and also has the weapons to be dangerous.

“We're a work in progress that way. We'll be a little further along by the time Texas comes to town. Hopefully, we'll be ready to play Vanderbilt football from the first snap to the last.”

Texas vs. the SEC

Texas and Oklahoma will join the SEC on July 1, 2024, after competing in the Big 12 since 1996. How has Texas fared against all of its future SEC rivals?

Texas vs. Alabama: 7-2-1

Arkansas: 56-23

Auburn: 5-3

Florida: 2-0-1

Georgia: 4-1

Kentucky: 1-0

LSU: 9-8-1

Mississippi: 6-1

Mississippi State: 2-2

Missouri: 18-6

Oklahoma: 63-50-5

South Carolina: 0-1

Tennessee: 2-1

Texas A&M: 76-37-5

Vanderbilt: 3-8-1

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Vanderbilt rare SEC football team to have success against Texas