Texas may have gotten starting quarterback Quinn Ewers back, but now Jonathon Brooks, one of the top running backs in the country, is out for the season.
Brooks, who has been having a breakout year for the Longhorns, suffered a torn ACL in his right knee on Saturday during a 29-26 win over TCU. The third-year back had been considered a top 2024 NFL draft prospect — through 10 games, he rushed for 1,139 yards (sixth-best nationally) and was averaging 113.9 yards per game (seventh-best). He leads the team with 11 touchdowns and is a major reason why No. 7 Texas is 9-1 and in the hunt for a Big 12 title and a College Football Playoff berth.
Texas has two regular season games left — Saturday on the road against Iowa State (8 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app), and the following Friday night against Texas Tech.
“Losing Jonathan for the season is a tough blow for us,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian told reporters Monday. “He’s a better person than he is a football player — and he’s a heck of a football player. He’s a great runner, he can pass protect, he’s a weapon out of the backfield catching the ball, so naturally that creates a void.
The opportunity specifically is there for freshman CJ Baxter, who came to Texas out of Florida ranked as the No. 1 running back in the country. Entering the season, it was Baxter who was actually deemed the immediate replacement for first-round pick Bijan Robinson. Then he suffered a rib injury in the season opener against Rice, came back the next week to play Alabama, but picked up a foot injury that he had been dealing with ever since.
Baxter has only missed one game this season — against Wyoming in Week 3 — and is second on the team with 390 rushing yards. He’s scored three rushing touchdowns, most recently a 54-yard bolt to the end zone in a dramatic 33-30 overtime win over Kansas State.
Last Saturday after Brooks was injured, Baxter picked off a safety blitz on third-and-12 late in the fourth quarter that allowed Ewers to hit receiver Adonai Mitchell deep for a 35-yard completion, which Sarkisian said “excited him most.”
“Pass protection is probably the biggest thing for a young man making the transition from high school to college and then from college to the NFL,” Sarkisian said.
Sarkisian has been impressed by Baxter’s maturity and noted that the freshman tailback is in the top “2-3% on the team in terms of work ethic and wanting to get better.”
Texas has more depth behind Baxter, too, with Jaydon Blue, Keilan Robinson and Savion Red. Blue had a 34-yard touchdown run that clinched the win over BYU, Robinson plays fast and is an asset on special teams, while Red has been incorporated into Texas’ wildcat package.
“We feel comfortable that we have those four guys, that core [group] of guys,” Sarkisian said.
