Texas Football: 4 key injured Longhorns players heading into Iowa State
Texas football entered last weekend’s matchup on the road in Fort Worth against the TCU Horned Frogs with a pretty healthy squad. Texas got redshirt sophomore quarterback Quinn Ewers back from a shoulder injury vs. TCU that caused him to miss the previous two starts.
Head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns also got redshirt senior right tackle Christian Jones and senior safety Kitan Crawford back from various injuries for the TCU game in Week 11.
Getting key contributors back on both sides of the ball, such as Ewers, Jones, and Crawford, helped the Longhorns hang on to beat head coach Sonny Dykes and the Horned Frogs on the road in Fort Worth last weekend by a score of 29-26.
Key injury updates for Texas football heading into Week 12 vs. Iowa State
But Texas did experience a couple of costly injuries against TCU, namely the season-ending ACL tear that redshirt sophomore running back Jonathon Brooks suffered in Week 11. There were also a couple of injured Texas players who were supposed to be active for the TCU game but were either limited or didn’t end up playing.
Here are four key injury updates for the Longhorns heading into the Week 12 matchup against the Iowa State Cyclones on the road in Ames.
Quinn Ewers, QB
Getting Ewers back for the TCU game was the biggest injury news for the Longhorns last week. Ewers returned to the lineup for Texas after missing the last two starts due to a Grade 2 AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder.
Ewers looked great for the Longhorns in the first half against TCU last weekend. In the first half, he completed 15-of-22 passing attempts for 244 passing yards, one passing touchdown, and one interception. That is the most passing yards Ewers registered in any first half this season.
But Ewers’ production slowed in the second half due to a few reasons. First off, Sark tried to set the tone on the ground in the second half to seal the win. Texas just couldn’t sustain the rushing attack, especially after the injury Brooks suffered in the second half.
Texas also had some miscues in the passing game in the second half, including a couple of overthrown balls from Ewers and a miscommunication with junior wide receiver Adonai Mitchell on a route or two that could’ve resulted in explosive plays had they connected on those plays.
Next, Texas dialed up a sort of stinger play. They're running mesh but instead of running the normal curl in the middle, Worthy keeps going on a cross. Decently well covered but Ewers just missed him. pic.twitter.com/q4lenmWpuP
— Captain Bruisin, cruise director (@Ian_A_Boyd) November 13, 2023
Other minor issues, including missed blocks on the boundary in the screen game from receivers and potential health problems with Ewers, contributed to Texas’ passing game slowing down in the second half.
Sark said Ewers “was a little sore” coming out of the TCU game. But he did throw in practice on Monday and “did fine”. That could’ve played a role in Texas turning to the ground game more in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter when the Longhorns only attempted three passes.
Steve Sarkisian on Quinn Ewers: "For us with Quinn, naturally he was a little sore but he threw today, operated, and did fine. As the weeks go one, if we can continue to protect like we did the other night he's only going to continue to get better and more healthy."
— Inside Texas (@InsideTexas) November 13, 2023
With Brooks out for the rest of the season, Sark and the Longhorns must rely more on Ewers’ arm to close out games. And with another week to get his shoulder healthy heading into the Iowa State game, Ewers should continue to progress in Week 12.