Even as the No. 1 team in the country and even with a 4-0 record to their name, the Texas Longhorns have been anything but flawless to start the season, and that was undeniably compounded by injuries in Week 4.
The Horns secured their win, in ugly fashion, over the Tennessee Volunteers and were missing a few of their star players from the lineup, including running back Hollywood Smothers, despite being listed as available ahead of kickoff.
After the win, as fans breathed a sigh of relief, the team and head coach Steve Sarkisian were breathing a deep breath of their own, especially with a bye on the horizon.
"We do need to get healthy. We were a little banged up coming out of the game," Sarkisian said after the game. "[The bye] comes at a good time."
Of course, while Texas got a little beat up against the Vols, adding to their injury list, Sarkisian also made sure to let everyone know that Tennessee carted off eight of their own guys during the game. So, if anyone's thinking of calling the Horns soft again, they may want to rethink their angle...
Longhorns have a lot of injuries to deal with before facing Oklahoma
Sarkisian shared after the game that he had only planned to use Smothers as an "emergency" option if the combination of Raleek Brown and Derrek Cooper wasn't working in the backfield.
Beyond Smothers not seeing any game time against Tennessee, wide receiver Cam Coleman went down with an injury in the second half, spending a little time in the medical tent before eventually returning to the game but not receiving another target from quarterback Arch Manning.
Even edge-rusher Colin Simmons, who had a career game against the Vols, is nursing an elbow injury, which he had padded and braced on Saturday afternoon. Tight end Nick Townsend missed his third straight game, and Manning only connected Emaree Winston with his go-to big man still missing from the receiving group.
Defensive lineman Justus Terry was still out as well, taking away yet another pass-rush threat off of Texas's lineup, something that the Horns could undoubtedly use as they take on an already-shaky Oklahoma offense.
Of course, even when the Sooners are bad, the Red River Rivalry could truly be anyone's game to win, and while OU isn't ranked right now, the Horns are not lacking for ranked matchups over the rest of the season, an even bigger reason the bye week should be a huge benefit for Texas.
"We've got more of these to go. Our schedule is our schedule," Sarkisian said about the remaining schedule after earning their first ranked road win of the season. "That’s what good teams do; they find ways to win games."
There is still a long road ahead of the Horns, with six ranked matchups and two rivalry games still to come, but this bye week is exactly what they need to get healthy before truly getting into the heart of their SEC schedule.
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