With less than four weeks to go before its season opener against Colorado State, No. 4 Texas has lost a key contributor on its offense.
The Longhorns announced Wednesday that running back CJ Baxter will miss the upcoming football season with a knee injury that will require surgery. The sophomore was expected to help lead the Texas rushing attack this fall before getting hurt during the team’s first full-pads practice of the season Tuesday.
The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Baxter, who was a five-star prospect during the 2023 recruiting cycle, has dealt with a series of injuries since he arrived at Texas. Baxter started last year’s season opener − the last true freshman to have done that as a running back at Texas had been Ricky Williams in 1995 − but injuries opened the door for Jonathon Brooks’ breakout campaign. Brooks left a game against Rice with a rib injury and a game against Texas Tech was cut short by a hip pointer. A foot injury also sidelined him for a game.
Baxter still rushed 138 times for 659 yards and five touchdowns in 2023. Both Baxter and Texas junior Jaydon Blue have been placed on the preseason watch list for the Doak Walker Award, and Baxter earned a second-team nod on the Southeastern Conference’s preseason team.
“I’ve just seen a lot of growth and a lot of maturity,” Texas center Jake Majors said of Baxter last week. “I really appreciate him stepping into that role with Blue and just taking it head on and embracing the fact that we’ve had all these great running backs come through and he wants to live up to that standard.”
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Without Baxter, the run game at Texas must now lean more on Blue and sophomore Quintrevion Wisner. Last season, Blue averaged 6.1 yards over his limited carries while Wisner mostly contributed on special teams. More carries could also become available for true freshmen Jerrick Gibson and Christian Clark.
Blue only recorded 80 carries and 14 catches over his first two years at Texas. But at a media availability on Tuesday, he noted that Brooks patiently waited behind Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson for two years before he took advantage of his opportunities last year.
“I always use JB as the example. He didn’t play much his first two years and he played a lot last year and he went to (NFL) after one year,” Blue said. “I always look back at that and it puts a lot of belief in me that if I just stay patient and work then everything I want (will happen).”
As for Blue’s 94 offensive touches, Texas tight end Gunner Helm said don’t look too much into them. “He’s played a lot of football, to be honest with you. Don’t let the minimum snap count in games last year fool you, especially at the beginning of the year. He’s been stepping up in practice, and every time he touches the ball, you feel like something special is going to happen.”
Baxter himself said last week that “we all know Jaydon is a phenomenal player. One of the fastest guys on the team.”
A strong rushing attack has traditionally been a staple of Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian’s offenses. Excluding a 2015 season at Southern California in which he was fired after the Trojans’ fifth game, Sarkisian has had a 1,000-yard rusher in each of his other nine seasons as a head coach. The leading rusher during each of the first three years of the Sarkisian era at Texas has rushed for at least 1,100 yards.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: CJ Baxter of Texas to miss season with knee injury
