3 key injured Texas football players vs. Oklahoma State

Following a tough loss to the No. 11 Oklahoma State Cowboys on the road at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater on Oct. 22, it clearly looked like No. 20 ranked Texas football and head coach Steve Sarkisian were pretty banged up. Especially on the defensive side of the ball, Texas looked to experience some costly injuries late in this game.

Texas comes out of this game pretty banged up, but Sark and his staff should be thankful that the bye week is coming at a good time following this bad loss to head coach Mike Gundy and the Pokes. Sark and the Longhorns need the extra week to get healthy and make the necessary adjustments to find success during a difficult November schedule.

At the moment, Texas looks like it has a long way to go before this team is really ready to contend for a Big 12 Championship. Much like it did last season, some of the more difficult road games in the Big 12 look to be a daunting task that could be too much for Texas to overcome under Sark.

Yet, one of the crucial factors in this loss to Oklahoma State was injuries. Texas’ defense suffered multiple injuries that changed the course of this game in the second half. But this staff needs to find a way to succeed more often when holding a double-digit second-half lead in the face of trying times such as rampant injuries on defense.

Ryan Watts and the key injured Texas football players coming out of the Oklahoma State game

Here’s a look at three key injured Texas players that we saw in Week 8 against Oklahoma State.

Jerrin Thompson, S

One notable injury that I want to talk about following the loss to Oklahoma State is the issue that junior safety Jerrin Thompson is still clearly dealing with. Thompson was off the field for a good number of defensive snaps in the win in Week 7 over the Iowa State Cyclones.

He took just over 50 defensive snaps in the win over Iowa State. But Thompson was on the field for nearly a season-high with over 100 defensive snaps in the loss to Oklahoma State.

While Thompson was back on the field for more defensive snaps for Texas against Oklahoma State than he was against Iowa State, he was clearly still dealing with something this weekend. Thompson didn’t look to have the same burst down the stretch in the second half in pass coverage as he did in the first 30 minutes.

Following the win over Iowa State, Sark mentioned that Thompson’s status was “day-to-day” and that he was dealing with a “stinger”. But Thompson really needs the extra week of rest thanks to the upcoming bye week.

Texas has a lot of problems to solve in the secondary after having a season-high 12 missed tackles in pass coverage. And getting Thompson back healthy will be a major factor in seeing this secondary get back to the form we saw out of them early in the regular season.