Texas Football: BR lists Bijan as a top underclassmen Heisman candidate

A lot of the hype surrounding what Texas football can do next fall under the direction of newly hired head coach Steve Sarkisian revolves around the star freshman running back Bijan Robinson. There might not be a single running back around the Big 12, and very few around the entire country, that finished up the 2020 campaign as hot as Robinson did.

It’s really difficult to replicate the efficiency that Robinson brought to the table for now former fourth-year Longhorns head coach Tom Herman down the stretch last season. Texas got a whopping more than 450 total yards from scrimmage and six total touchdowns out of Robinson in just the final two games of the season.

To make things even more impressive, Robinson averaged more than 18 yards per catch and per catch in the final two games of his freshman campaign. As a whole for his 2020 season, Robinson registered 703 rushing yards on 86 carries (8.2 yards per carry), four rushing touchdowns, and 196 receiving yards on 15 catches (13.1 yards per catch), with two touchdown catches. That led to a freshman campaign where Robinson tallied up nearly 900 total yards from scrimmage in just bits and pieces of nine games played.

All of the production and efficiency that Robinson put on display down the stretch for the Longhorns last season is leading to a major hype train getting built up for him this offseason.

The Heisman hype for Texas football’s Robinson

In a piece released from Bleacher Report this week, Robinson was included on a list of 10 underclassmen around the college football landscape that have the best shot at winning the Heisman Trophy in 2021. If that is the case and Robinson is a top Heisman contender out of the Big 12 for next season, then he would be continuing the momentum he built down the stretch last year.

Here’s more on what this Bleacher Report piece had to say on the matter of Robinson as a potential Heisman contender.

"The 5-star recruit set a school record with 8.2 yards per carry, yet he carried the ball more than 15 times just once all season, finishing with 703 rushing yards and four touchdowns.His vast skill set was on full display in the Alamo Bowl when he rushed for 183 yards and a touchdown, scored two more times on receptions and returned a kick 16 yards.Now that Steve Sarkisian is in the coach’s seat and quarterback Sam Ehlinger is off to the NFL, expect Robinson to be the focal point of the offense in 2021 and one of the nation’s most productive players."

It was also interesting that this BR piece noted how Sark could be able to utilize Robinson much more effectively than Herman did. This is partly true since Robinson averaged more than eight yards per carry, but had well under 100 rushing attempts last season.

Texas often utilized the junior running back Keaontay Ingram (who is now in the NCAA Transfer Portal) or sophomore Roschon Johnson instead of Robinson in the ground game. Utilizing a pretty dynamic running back combination of Robinson and Johnson can be the best way that Sark can find success with this position group come the fall.

Hopefully Sark can better utilize and develop the skill positions players as a whole for the Longhorns starting this year.

Under the direction of the now former head coach Herman, Texas finished up the 2020 season with a record of 7-3 (5-3 Big 12), including wins in five of their last six games. Their last game resulted in a 55-23 drubbing of the Colorado Buffaloes in the Alamo Bowl, where Robinson came up huge for the Longhorns with 183 rushing yards on just 10 carries, and three total touchdowns.