Texas Football: DJ Campbell gets reps with first-team on Wednesday

Texas football has one day of practice and game prep remaining before it hits the road to travel to Tuscaloosa to face the No. 3 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide and head coach Nick Saban under the lights at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Sep. 9. No. 11 Texas will be put to the test against Alabama, especially in the trenches.

A problem area for head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns heading into the Alabama game this weekend is the offensive line. Specifically, the interior offensive line was an issue for the Longhorns in last weekend’s season-opening 37-10 win at home at DKR over the Rice Owls.

Texas had multiple missed assignments and some blown blocks in the win over Rice last weekend. Offensive line coach/offensive coordinator Kyle Flood also saw one of his starting interior offensive linemen go down with a lower-body injury in the second half against Rice.

Texas football IOL DJ Campbell gets first-team reps at RG in Wednesday’s practice

Sophomore offensive guard DJ Campbell had a Rice defender roll up on his ankle in the second half of that game. Campbell was forced to leave the game, with redshirt freshman interior offensive lineman Neto Umeozulu taking the reps for him down the stretch at right guard.

In practice for the Longhorns, Campbell was reportedly seen in a walking boot early this week. But he was able to return to practice on Sep. 5. Upon Campbell’s return to practice earlier this week, sophomore interior offensive lineman Cole Hutson took the first-team reps at right guard.

But it looks like the first-team reps have shifted in practice at right guard again later this week. Horns247 reported on Sep. 7 (paid content) that Campbell took the first-team reps at right guard in practice on Sep. 6. This comes after Hutson took the starting reps at right guard in practice the first two days this week.

Hutson missed the Rice game last weekend due to a nagging injury issue. Sark described the issue as Hutson being “nicked up” heading into the opener.

Campbell and Hutson are both reportedly available heading into Week 2 vs. Alabama

As we saw in fall camp, Campbell and Hutson are duking it out for the starting job at right guard heading into the Alabama game on Sep. 9. Campbell is reportedly “back in consideration for the start” at right guard if he shows out this week in practice.

Hutson started 13 games at right guard for the Longhorns as a true freshman last season, including the Alabama game in Week 2. Campbell played seven games for the Longhorns last season, including heavy doses of offensive snaps when Hutson dealt with injury against the Baylor Bears and in the bowl game against Washington.