Texas football vs Kansas full injury report for Week 5

No. 3 Texas football has its Big 12 home opener this weekend against head coach Lance Leipold and the No. 24 ranked Kansas Jayhawks at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin. Texas and head coach Steve Sarkisian are looking to knock off Kansas for the final time as Big 12 foes when these two teams meet on the 40 on Sep. 30.

Texas comes into Week 5 against Kansas sporting an undefeated 4-0 (1-0 Big 12) record on the season after a very convincing 38-6 win over the Baylor Bears on the road in Waco on Sep. 23. The Longhorns also have wins over the Rice Owls, No. 3 Alabama Crimson Tide, and Wyoming Cowboys this season.

Kansas is also undefeated, with a record of 4-0 (1-0 Big 12) heading into its Big 12 road opener. In its conference opener, the Jayhawks are coming off a double-digit win over the BYU Cougars at home on Sep. 23.

Texas and Kansas come into this top 25 battle this weekend with relatively clean bills of health. Here’s a look at the injury report as No. 3 Texas hosts No. 24 Kansas at DKR in Austin on Sep. 30, with the kickoff time set for 2:30 p.m. CT.

Texas football injury report vs. Kansas

• CJ Baxter Jr., RB (Probable)
• Cole Hutson, IOL (Out)
• Kris Ross, DL/EDGE (Out)

The biggest injury news for the Longhorns this week is the progression of true freshman running back CJ Baxter Jr. The talented first-year back is still working back to 100 percent after suffering a lower-body injury in the win over Alabama on the road in Week 2.

In his Monday press conference on Sep. 25, Sark said that Baxter is “close” to getting back to 100 percent. But it doesn’t sound like Baxter will be back to 100 percent for the Kansas game this weekend.

Expect Baxter to get a bigger workload against Kansas than last week in the win over Baylor. Baxter got six carries for 21 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown in the 32-point win over Baylor on Sep. 23. That was the first rushing touchdown of Baxter’s collegiate career.

Redshirt sophomore running back Jonathon Brooks has taken most of the attempts out of the backfield for the Longhorns, with Baxter getting back to 100 percent in the last couple of weeks. That will likely be the case again this weekend, where Brooks gets most of the rushing attempts against Kansas.

Sophomore interior offensive lineman Cole Hutson had a positive injury update from the head coach this week. On Sep. 28, Sark stated that Hutson is doing “really well”. There still isn’t a timetable for his return from what Sark said in his Thursday press conference.

Sophomore interior offensive lineman DJ Campbell has taken the starting reps at right guard with Hutson out since the Wyoming game in Week 3. Campbell took 61 offensive snaps in the win over Baylor, not allowing a single quarterback pressure as one of the highest-graded pass blockers in the Big 12 among guards in Week 4.

Sark didn’t provide an injury update on second-year edge rusher Kris Ross, who was initially banged up in the win over Wyoming in Week 3. The original timetable for Ross’s return was three or four weeks.

Kansas injury report

• Logan Brown, OT (TBA)
• Taiwan Berryhill Jr., LB (TBA)
• Billy Conaway, RB (Out)
• Damarius McGhee, CB (TBA)
• Tanaka Scott, WR (TBA)

Regarding the injury updates that Leipold has provided and the reports we have from the Kansas side, redshirt junior running back Billy Conaway is the only confirmed status we could find. Conaway is out for the season after suffering a non-contact injury during the offseason.

Other notable injuries Leipold and the Jayhawks recently dealt with include redshirt junior right tackle and former Wisconsin transfer Logan Brown and senior middle linebacker Taiwan Berryhill Jr. Leipold told the media last week in his press conference that Brown is dealing with a foot injury in the last few weeks. Brown hasn’t taken any snaps since the season opener against FCS Missouri State.

Berryhill is dealing with a lower-body injury he suffered in Kansas’ win over the Nevada Wolfpack in Week 3. He hasn’t taken any snaps since suffering that lower-body injury a couple of weeks ago.

A report from KUsports.com detailed that redshirt sophomore wide receiver Tanaka Scott and redshirt sophomore cornerback Damarius McGhee are dealing with various ailments that limited them in practice early this season.

Scott looks to be good to go as he took seven offensive snaps in Kansas’ Week 4 win over BYU.

Meanwhile, McGhee hasn’t taken any live-game reps for the Jayhawks since the season opener against Missouri State.