Texas Football: Jake Smith to return from hamstring injury vs. Texas Tech

Texas football appears to now be one wide receiver down for the season opener on Sep. 12 at home against the UTEP Miners, after Jake Smith’s injury.

There’s a few injuries that arose for the Texas football program ahead of the season opener on Sep. 12 against the UTEP Miners out of Conference-USA. UTEP is the lone non-conference game for Texas this year, and the matchup comes at home at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, under the lights with kick off set for 7 p.m. CT. It’s hard to believe that the offseason is almost over, with how long and tumultuous it was in the midst of all the social activism and the novel coronavirus pandemic going on around the globe.

But the Longhorns are almost ready to kick off their portion of the 2020 college football season. Power Five football kicked off on Sep. 10, with former Houston Cougars grad transfer quarterback D’Eriq King and the Miami Hurricanes knocking off the UAB Blazers at home. On the same night, the NFL kicked off their regular season, with the Kansas City Chiefs taking care of business against the Houston Texans.

However, while it is nice that football is back at both the college and NFL levels, we still have to be hopeful that the Longhorns injury fortunes will be better this year than last. Potentially the most significant Longhorn that looks to be out for the season opener, at least that we know of thus far, is sophomore wide receiver Jake Smith.

Smith reportedly will miss the season opener against UTEP with a hamstring injury he suffered in one-on-one drills in practice earlier this week. But, per head coach Tom Herman in that report, Smith should be back in the fold for the Longhorns by the Big 12 opener. Texas opens up Big 12 play on the road on Sep. 26 against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

The 6-foot and 200 pound speedster Smith is one of the more proven returning wide receivers for the Longhorns this fall. Last season, he registered 25 catches for 274 receiving yards and six touchdowns. With him out, look for redshirt freshman former converted running back Jordan Whittington to get the start at the slot receiver position.

Texas should now be starting with senior grad transfer Tarik Black, redshirt sophomore Joshua Moore, and Whittington as their receivers in the season opener. Senior quarterback Sam Ehlinger will still have a plethora of weapons at his disposal for the season opener this weekend.