The long-awaited renewal of the Lone Star Showdown rivalry between No. 3 Texas football and the No. 20 Texas A&M Aggies is a little over 24 hours away on Thanksgiving week.
Quinn Ewers injury report update for Texas football, among other skill position players with bumps and bruises, vs. Texas A&M in Week 14
For the first time since the 2011 season, the Longhorns and Aggies will square off on the gridiron on Saturday night at Kyle Field in College Station. The stakes for this matchup between Texas and Texas A&M are high, with a spot in the SEC Championship Game against the No. 7 Georgia Bulldogs in Atlanta on Dec. 7 and potentially an open path to the College Football Playoff on the line.
Regardless of what happens in the Lone Star Showdown this weekend against Texas A&M, the Longhorns should have a spot in the College Football Playoff this postseason. But a win over Texas A&M would likely guarantee Texas a single-digit seed in the 12-team Playoff.
Texas does have some headlining injuries entering Week 14 against the Aggies, namely at the quarterback position. But this is the healthiest Texas has been coming into a key game in the SEC on the defensive side of the ball in at least the past month, for the Texas A&M contest this weekend.
Here are three key injury updates for the Longhorns entering the rivalry matchup on Nov. 30 on the road against Texas A&M.
Isaiah Bond, WR
For the first time in a couple of weeks, junior wide receiver Isaiah Bond doesn't have his name shown on the SEC injury report for the Longhorns. Bond has been fighting a lingering ankle injury since the Oklahoma game in the Red River Rivalry in Dallas in October.
Bond will be a key weapon that the Longhorns must utilize in the passing game against a good Texas A&M defense and secondary this weekend in College Station. Before suffering the ankle injury against Oklahoma on Oct. 12, Bond was Texas's leading receiver and one of the offense's most explosive threats.
It sounds like Bond is as healthy as he's been for the Longhorns' offense in the past couple of months, entering the Texas A&M game this weekend. I'd expect him to be a huge part of the offensive gameplan this weekend, along with junior Matthew Golden, senior tight end Gunnar Helm, and freshman Ryan Wingo.
DeAndre Moore Jr., WR
Another Texas receiver who's been fighting a lingering lower-body injury in the past few weeks is sophomore wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. Moore suffered a foot injury a couple of weeks ago in the rivalry win in Fayetteville on the road on Nov. 16 against the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Due to the lingering foot injury, Moore's snaps were limited to just five in Arkansas and a little over three dozen in the win over the Kentucky Wildcats last weekend on Senior Day.
Moore also hasn't been found as much as a target in the receiving game in SEC play in mid-to-late November. He has two targets for one catch since the Arkansas win on Nov. 16.
Since Moore is Texas's best blocking receiver and one of the team's most reliable slot receivers, he'll play a key role for the offense for the outside run game and downfield blocking against A&M's defense. We could also see guys like Moore, senior receiver Silas Bolden, and senior tight end Juan Davis getting involved in the receiving game against A&M.
Moore is Texas's highest-graded run blocking receiver in SEC play this season (per PFF).
I'd expect Moore to be as close to 100 percent after working his way back from the foot injury as he's been in the past few weeks since the Arkansas game two full weekends ago.
Quinn Ewers, QB
The biggest headline for the Longhorns on the injury front this week for the Texas A&M game is the status of starting quarterback Quinn Ewers.
In the win over Kentucky on Senior Day at DKR last weekend, Ewers suffered an ankle injury on a QB keeper run play. Ewers was limping around on that injured ankle for the rest of the game, but he did stick it through for the rest of the second half for the Longhorns against Kentucky.
On the Thursday SEC-mandated injury report update, Ewers was listed with a status of "probable". He has the same status on the Thursday injury report from the SEC that he had on the first report this week on Wednesday.
Inside Texas's Eric Nahlin reported on Nov. 29 that Ewers had a good practice on Thursday. He also mentioned that he "expects Quinn to play" against Texas A&M this weekend despite suffering the ankle injury last week against Kentucky.
It's noteworthy that redshirt freshman backup quarterback Arch Manning reportedly "practiced more than normal" this week for Sarkisian and the Longhorns with the first-team offense. That's not very surprising to hear that Arch is practicing more this week, given that Ewers is trying to work his way back to get as healthy as possible with that injured ankle before the Texas A&M game.
This is a huge game this weekend against the Aggies in a hostile environment at Kyle Field in College Station for the Longhorns. Ewers has the proven game experience on the road as a three-year starter for Texas to more effectively lead the Longhorns' offense against the rival Aggies in this crazy road environment, compared to Manning, who hasn't started a true road game in the SEC in his collegiate career.