AUSTIN — The Texas Longhorns are dealing with another notable injury on the offensive side of the ball.
After the first play from scrimmage in Saturday’s home game against the UTEP Miners, Texas running back CJ Baxter received a carry before walking off gingerly and eventually making his way to the locker room.
Baxter walked off under his own power but it’s unclear what the injury is. After already missing all of last season with a knee injury, Baxter’s exit certainly left Texas fans holding their breath.
Already without running back Quintrevion Wisner and wide receivers DeAndre Moore Jr. and Emmett Mosley V, Texas will now have to lean even further on its depth.
It certainly doesn’t help that the Texas offense hasn’t exactly looked the part through the first two games of the season.
If Baxter and Wisner both miss time moving forward, the Longhorns will have to lean on a young backfield of Jerrick Gibson, Christian Clark and James Simon.
In the win over San Jose State, Gibson fumbled late in the fourth quarter with the game already out of hand. Texas Longhorns on SI asked Baxter about his message to Gibson after committing a cardinal sin for a running back,
“As a runner, that’s one of the worst things to do to fumble,” Baxter said when asked by Texas Longhorns on SI. “We feel like all the time, I had a fumble in my career, and I still think about it sometimes, but when he came to the sideline, I told him to pick his head up. I said, look at the reason you fumbled and fix it, don’t let it happen again. Move on to the next play.”
Gibson still finished the game with seven carries for 38 yards.
Gibson showed impressive flashes as a freshman last season but still had some growing pains. His highlight of 2024 came against the Florida Gators when he finished with 16 carries for a career-high 100 yards and a touchdown.
Baxter also shared his thoughts on Clark, who had seven carries for 21 yards but found trouble moving north to south.
“That’s a young runner thing,” Baxter said. “I was the same way when I first started, thinking get the ball and score. He’s [Clark] getting better each and every day; you can see it in practice. He’ll be great, I promise, he’ll be great.”
