Texas Football: Jordan Whittington back at practice for Red River week

The Texas football receiving corps could be getting back redshirt freshman wideout Jordan Whittington for the Red River Rivalry game.

Finally some actual good news arose for the Texas football program after a really rough weekend. Texas head coach Tom Herman saw his team fall short in a pretty big upset at the hands of head coach Gary Patterson and the TCU Horned Frogs in their Big 12 home opener back on Oct. 3. TCU got the best of Texas by the final score of 33-31.

The game was essentially fumbled away by junior running back Keaontay Ingram late in the fourth quarter. Ingram reached the ball out too far and wound up fumbling the ball on the goal line. After the Horned Frogs recovered that fumble and took over on offense again, they wound up running out the clock on an intentional safety.

The play of the Longhorns skill position players in this loss to TCU at home over the weekend was very underwhelming. It wasn’t just the running backs or wide receivers alone that weren’t helping out much in a positive sense around senior quarterback Sam Ehlinger.

The running backs weren’t all that efficient outside of sophomore Roschon Johnson. And the leading receiver in this game was actually tight end Jared Wiley (with just over 60 receiving yards). Texas also registered a season-high three drops in the loss to TCU.

However, that aforementioned good news that is arriving for Texas heading into Week 6 of the college football season is the potential return of a key wide receiver. Texas is heading into the week of the annual Red River Rivalry game, taking on the Oklahoma Sooners who come in with a record of 1-2 (0-2 Big 12).

The wide receiver that could be returning for the Longhorns next weekend is redshirt freshman former five-star recruit Jordan Whittington. After dealing with a small meniscus tear, and then going through a successful procedure a few weeks back, Whittington was reportedly back at practice on Oct. 4.

Here’s more on what head coach Tom Herman had to say on Whittington returning to practice last weekend (monologue thanks to Horns247).

"“Jordan Whittington did practice (Sunday), and it went well,” Herman said during his Monday press conference. “We expect him to practice this Tuesday, and if he makes it through practice this week, he should be available to us for the game on Saturday.”"

So Herman is saying there’s a chance that Whittington makes his return to the lineup for the Longhorns in possibly the most important game of the regular season. He would be a much-needed boost to the slot, likely behind sophomore wide receiver Jake Smith.

In the season opening win back on Sep. 12 over the UTEP Miners at home by the final score of 59-3, Whittington racked up some efficient production before his injury late in the first half. He registered two catches for 45 receiving yards, and one rush for 15 yards.

Texas enters this game with a record of 2-1 (1-1 Big 12) after falling short against the Horned Frogs on Oct. 3. Their two wins came in the season opener against UTEP and the Big 12 opener back on Sep. 26 in that thrilling overtime comeback against the Texas Tech Red Raiders on the road in Lubbock.