Texas Football: 5 overreactions from Longhorns’ escape vs. Houston

CJ Baxter Jr. will take the mantle as RB1 late this season

Baxter’s aforementioned 16-yard TD run was the game-winning score for the Longhorns in this narrow escape against the Cougars this weekend. This was the biggest rushing touchdown of Baxter’s collegiate career to date, coming through in a big way in clutch time for the Longhorns.

Despite getting limited touches against Houston, Baxter still tallied over 50 total yards on nine touches, with one rushing touchdown. He was efficient on the ground, rushing for 42 yards on six carries (with most of the yards coming on the 16-yard rushing touchdown).

Baxter continues to get better this fall after suffering a couple of unfortunate injuries that limited his production in the first few weeks of the regular season. He’s more comfortable and confident in this offense as he’s gotten healthier in the last four games.

In the last few weeks, Baxter has impacted games in more ways than on the ground. Since the Week 4 win over the Baylor Bears, Baxter has moved the chains multiple times catching the ball and picking up yards in chunks after the catch.

Baxter is also Texas’ highest-graded run blocker in the last three games and the second-highest-graded pass blocker among the running backs. He’s ahead of schedule regarding his progression in the receiving game out of the backfield and as a blocker halfway through his true freshman campaign.

As the season progresses, I’d expect Baxter to continue to get more and more reps where he can highlight the growth in his game in multiple phases on offense.