Texas Football: 4 overreactions after the underwhelming Alamo Bowl loss

Texas will need to add another RB via the transfer portal

One of the minor concerns I have for the Longhorns entering the offseason is the state of the running back room. Texas tried to set the tone on the ground to open up the Alamo Bowl on offense with redshirt junior running back Keilan Robinson. And I thought that was a mistake from the very get go.

There were other running backs that I felt Sark could’ve utilized in a better fashion out of the gates. It also looked like Sark just abandoned the ground game way too early. That gave vibes of what went wrong for the Longhorns in the loss to the TCU Horned Frogs on Nov. 12, where Bijan only received a dozen carries.

Texas only ran the ball 14 times in this game, despite getting a better push from the offensive line in the second half. Given how important setting the tone on the ground is to Sark’s entire offensive scheme, this puzzled me a bit.

Heading into this game, it looked as if redshirt freshman running back Jonathon Brooks was getting to have a heavier workload due to the absences of Bijan and Roschon. Yet, Brooks only got a half-dozen hand-offs, despite going for more than 50 total yards and two scores. Both of his touchdowns came in the second half.

Brooks was finding his groove, but it was apparent that Sark didn’t want to give him a big role in this game for whatever reason. And this is what leads to my concerns heading into the offseason in this running back room.

It’s clear that Keilan is not going to be the answer at RB1 for Texas next year. And while I initially thought that Brooks could step up and compete for the starting job in camp in 2023, it doesn’t look like Sark has much confidence in what he brings to the table.

I must say that while I have full confidence in the abilities of Brooks and the incoming five-star Edgewater (FL) running back Cedric Baxter Jr., it’s the fragility and way that Sark uses this RB room that concerns me.

If Sark doesn’t trust Brooks, then that leaves Baxter as the only reliable option among the true running backs that Texas will have in the fold next year. And that leaves me worried since Texas would be relying solely on a true freshman to carry the load out of the backfield next season after having a dynamic duo in Bijan and Roschon leading the way this fall.