As Texas' running back is plagued by injuries ahead of the 2024 season, Steve Sarkisian weighs his options – The Daily Texan

The Texas Longhorns running back room will look very different this season.

When news of starter CJ Baxter's injury emerged after practice on August 7, panic broke. Due to a torn lateral and posterior cruciate ligament in his knee, Texas Athletics announced that Baxter would miss what could have been a monumental sophomore year.

In 2023, Baxter became the first true freshman to start at running back since Ricky Williams in 1995. In the 12 games he appeared in, he started six times, running 138 times for a total of 659 yards and scoring five touchdowns for the Longhorns. He also proved to be a reliable target for quarterback Quinn Ewers, catching 24 passes for 156 yards.

Shortly after the pain of Baxter's absence subsided, news broke that freshman running back Christian Clark had torn his Achilles tendon during training camp on August 12. The program said Clark would need surgery and, along with Baxter, would miss the entire 2024 season. He came out of Mountain Pointe, Arizona, as a three-star recruit and recorded 135 carries for 801 yards and six touchdowns in his senior year, including 12 passes caught for 144 receiving yards.

With Baxter and Clark out of action, head coach Steve Sarkisian has been busy developing a new rotation.

“We are looking at different options and I think we are being creative, whether it is a couple of guys on the offensive side of the ball, a potential player on the defensive side of the ball or two, for that matter,” Sarkisian said. “We're living day by day again. We have plenty of time.”

There remains full confidence in Jaydon Blue, now in the spotlight after being nominated to the Doak Walker Award and Paul Hornung watch lists earlier this month, that he will take on the starting role.

Blue is on the verge of an explosive season after rushing for 398 yards, three touchdowns and 14 passes for 135 yards last year. In the final three games of 2023, Blue averaged over seven yards per carry and ran nine times for 59 yards and a touchdown against Washington in the College Football Playoff.

Another promising option for Sarkisian and running backs coach Tashard Choice is sophomore Tre Wisner, who looks to fill the second spot on the main trio. Wisner impressed Sarkisian in the offseason and made significant progress during spring and summer workouts. Wisner originally started on special teams as a freshman and also showed his ability to carry the ball, running 12 times for 73 yards and a touchdown last season.

“The thing about Tre is he's one of the hardest workers on our team,” Sarkisian said. “I mean, this guy gives it his all every day, every rep, and it pays off for him.”

Completing the trio is freshman Jerrick Gibson, who was ranked the 13th running back and 22nd overall prospect in the state of Florida by On3 during his recruitment. In his senior year, he rushed for 740 yards on 127 carries and scored eight touchdowns. He also caught nine passes for 122 yards and one touchdown.

The Longhorns also recently secured another emergency option by signing former Kansas and SMU running back Velton Gardner. Gardner will add much-needed depth to the position and is now the only running back in the group with more than 1,000 career rushing yards.

If all else fails, Sarkisian has been moving some players to the running back position recently, such as wide receiver Ryan Niblett and senior tight end Juan Davis. For now, Sarkisian seems to have settled on Blue, Wisner and Gibson taking the reins while Gardner adds much-needed experienced depth behind them.