Cole Lourd taking second-team reps for Texas football in practice

The quarterback situation for Texas football is constantly evolving this week thanks to the plethora of injuries this team suffered at the position last weekend, along with the apparent injury issues for true freshman Maalik Murphy. The injury issues for the trio of redshirt freshman Quinn Ewers, junior Hudson Card, and Murphy have placed strain on the Texas quarterback room this week.

Due to the plethora of quarterback injuries since the loss to the No. 1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide last weekend, head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns have two newer faces stepping up with more key reps in practice.

So far this week, the former Iowa State Cyclones commit and redshirt freshman quarterback Charles Wright took the first-team reps in team drills in practice in place of the injured Card and Ewers. While Card is working his way back from a high ankle sprain on his right ankle, Wright could be preparing to make his first career start when Texas takes on the UTSA Roadrunners at home this weekend.

Through the end of practice on Sep. 14, it sounds like Card was still unable to participate with the first or second team in 11-on-11 drills. While he apparently keeps pushing to play against UTSA this weekend, there are clear hurdles he must work past if that is to become a reality.

We will probably know by the beginning of the day on Sep. 16 what the actual outlook will be for Card in terms of taking starting reps for Texas against UTSA.

In the meantime, Sark and the Longhorns staff must get a new set of quarterbacks ready to potentially be thrust into the spotlight in a couple of days. Wright would probably be the starting quarterback if Card is out this weekend.

Former Texas football walk-on QB Cole Lourd taking the second-team practice reps this week

And behind Wright, it looks like the former walk-on and redshirt freshman Cole Lourd will be the next man up in the event that Card is unable to go on Saturday. According to a report from Horns247 on Sep. 15 (paid content), Lourd has taken the second-team reps in practice this week behind Wright.

This is a bit of a change in the pecking order in the quarterback room compared to last season. For much of last season, fellow former walk-on Ben Ballard was getting the third or fourth-team reps in practice, often ahead of Wright and Lourd.

The change to the quarterback depth chart could be due to the talent discrepancy between Ballard compared to Wright and Lourd.

Wright was a pretty highly-recruited quarterback out of high school considering he was a lower-rated three-star prospect. He held offers from the Arkansas Razorbacks, NC State Wolfpack, Iowa State, and Texas. Meanwhile, Lourd was also a pretty highly-recruited quarterback that held offers from the LSU Tigers and Ole Miss Rebels at one point in time.

The talent discrepancy here could mean that Sark sees more potential in either Wright or Lourd to make more of the necessary throws to effectively execute his offensive schemes against UTSA this weekend. But there are obviously still some major question marks at the quarterback position heading into the weekend with the lack of proven experience among the healthy players in the QB room after the injuries to Ewers and Card.

Texas heads into this matchup against UTSA with a record of 1-1 (0-0 Big 12) following their tough last-second loss to Alabama at home on Sep. 10. Sark and the Longhorns are set to host UTSA at home at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin on Sep. 17, with the kickoff time set for 7 p.m. CT.