Texas Football: 5 key injured Longhorns players heading into BYU game
Ethan Burke, EDGE
Texas also lost many key players on the two-deep along the defensive front against Houston last weekend. Sophomore edge rusher Ethan Burke, senior outside linebacker Jett Bush, and senior defensive lineman Alfred Collins were the three players who exited the Houston game due to various injuries.
Horns247 reported on Oct. 23 that Burke suffered a knee injury in the win over Houston. He took 43 defensive snaps against the Cougars before being knocked out with a knee injury in the second half. Sophomore edge rushers Justice Finkley and J’Mond Tapp took more reps at EDGE against Houston after Burke exited the game.
Sark said Burke is also “week-to-week” with the knee injury heading into the BYU game on Oct. 28.
Ryan Watts, CB
Redshirt junior boundary corner Ryan Watts is another one of the many Longhorns defensive backs who suffered injuries in the last few weeks. Watts suffered a hamstring injury in the first half in Texas’ Week 5 win over Kansas. He exited that game in the first half and hasn’t played any live-game snaps since.
Watts was listed as a “game-time decision” by Sark in his Thursday press conference on Oct. 19, heading into the Houston game. But Watts didn’t see any live-game action in the win over Houston due to the hamstring issue.
Steve Sarkisian on Ryan Watts: “We’re more than hopeful we get Ryan Watts back this week, which is big for us.”
— Hook'em Headlines (@HookemHeadlines) October 23, 2023
In his press conference today, Sark said “we’re more than hopeful we get Ryan Watts back this week, which is big for us”.
Watts was reportedly available if the Longhorns needed him to play against Houston over the weekend. But with the abundance of injuries the Longhorns suffered in the secondary last weekend, I’ve got to imagine Watts wasn’t all that close to 100 percent with the hamstring issue if he didn’t get in the game late in the second half.