Texas Football: 4 key injured Longhorns players heading into UW
Given that No. 3 Texas football had almost a full month to rest and recover since their last game, this squad heads into the College Football Playoff Semifinals with a pretty clean bill of health.
Texas dealt with a handful of injuries in the Big 12 Championship Game win over the No. 18 Oklahoma State Cowboys on Dec. 2. But most of those players had time to work their way back into the swing of things in bowl practice in the last few weeks.
Texas football expects to have a fully healthy squad in the CFP Semifinal at the Sugar Bowl vs. UW
And various practice reports have indicated that Texas looks to be healthy and ready to go among the starters on both sides of the ball entering the College Football Playoff.
Texas and head coach Steve Sarkisian square off against head coach Kalen DeBoer and the No. 2 Washington Huskies in the CFP Semifinals game at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, LA, on Jan. 1. This is a rematch of the Alamo Bowl last postseason, where Washington got the best of Texas by a score of 27-20.
Here's a look at four key injured Longhorns players heading into the CFP Semifinals game at the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 against Washington.
Ryan Watts, CB
Back again.
— Josh Newman (@Joshua_Newman) December 30, 2023
Xavier Worthy, Ryan Watts, Austin Jordan are again present and participating.
Worthy said yesterday he’s playing, Watts and Jordan are presumed green lights for Monday.
Texas is padless, with guardian caps on the helmets. pic.twitter.com/YBtZ5An7Kx
Redshirt junior boundary corner Ryan Watts has been dealing with a back injury that he suffered on the first play from scrimmage for the Longhorns in the regular season finale on Nov. 24 against the Texas Tech Red Raiders. He missed the rest of the finale win over Texas Tech due to the back injury.
And Watts was absent in the Big 12 Championship Game win on Dec. 2 against Oklahoma State due to the back injury.
All indications point to Watts returning for the Longhorns in the CFP Semifinal game on Jan. 1 against Washington. In a press conference two weeks ago, Sarkisian said that he expects everyone back for the CFP Semifinals against Washington.
Watts was a full participant in practice for the Longhorns in Sugar Bowl practice at the Caesars Superdome this week.
Getting Watts back will be key for Texas's secondary. He's been a consistent performer as the starter at boundary corner in the last two seasons for the Longhorns.
Against the nation's top passing offense, Texas needs all the healthy defensive backs they can get in the Sugar Bowl.