Of all of the position groups on campus in 2026, the Texas Longhorns' running backs group will look the most different from the 2025 campaign.
When the transfer portal opened, the Longhorns saw their top four running backs make the choice to take their talents elsewhere — Quintrevion Wisner left for Florida State, Christian Clark went to South Carolina, CJ Baxter transferred to Kentucky, and Jerrick Gibson landed at Purdue. While losing that much at one position group normally sends up red flags, last year's crop was missing something vital to the offense's success — explosive playmakers.
If you remove quarterback Arch Manning's production on the ground, Texas rushed for 107.1 yards per game and just seven touchdowns in 13 games. In fact, Texas failed to eclipse the 100-yard rushing mark on five occasions a year ago, including the narrow overtime win over Kentucky and the two conference losses to Florida and Georgia.
"Our inability to create any explosive runs tonight showed up and I thought we had some opportunities to do it," head coach Steve Sarkisian said after the offense sputtered in Lexington. "We missed some opportunities in the run game to maybe be a little bit better… Consistency in the run game, efficiency in the run game is critical, and we weren't efficient enough tonight in that aspect of the offense either."
Injuries played a role, as Baxter and Clark both suffered season-ending injuries in 2024 before Baxter and Wisner both battled hamstring issues early last season.
#texas #Florida #kentucky
When the transfer portal opened, the Longhorns saw their top four running backs make the choice to take their talents elsewhere — Quintrevion Wisner left for Florida State, Christian Clark went to South Carolina, CJ Baxter transferred to Kentucky, and Jerrick Gibson landed at Purdue. While losing that much at one position group normally sends up red flags, last year's crop was missing something vital to the offense's success — explosive playmakers.
If you remove quarterback Arch Manning's production on the ground, Texas rushed for 107.1 yards per game and just seven touchdowns in 13 games. In fact, Texas failed to eclipse the 100-yard rushing mark on five occasions a year ago, including the narrow overtime win over Kentucky and the two conference losses to Florida and Georgia.
"Our inability to create any explosive runs tonight showed up and I thought we had some opportunities to do it," head coach Steve Sarkisian said after the offense sputtered in Lexington. "We missed some opportunities in the run game to maybe be a little bit better… Consistency in the run game, efficiency in the run game is critical, and we weren't efficient enough tonight in that aspect of the offense either."
Injuries played a role, as Baxter and Clark both suffered season-ending injuries in 2024 before Baxter and Wisner both battled hamstring issues early last season.
#texas #Florida #kentucky
3 months ago
