We knew that the Texas Longhorns may be a little shorthanded as they traveled to Columbia to face the Missouri Tigers in Week 10 after numerous starters went down in the Horns' Week 9 victory over Mississippi State.
However, for even head coach Steve Sarkisian to give an indication that his team would be short-staffed at the beginning of the week made it feel like a slightly bigger problem than initially expected...
For a head coach who usually refuses to give any indication of a player's status before the team releases its initial availability reports on Wednesday nights, Sarkisian was surprisingly transparent that injuries were undeniably a problem for the Horns right now.
"We're built for this kind of stuff; we know how to do it, but obviously we'll be undermanned on Saturday," Sarkisian said in his weekly game preview press conference. "But I have no doubt in my mind that the group that will take the field Saturday... will be ready to play."
However, no matter how much faith Sarkisian has in his roster's depth, there are a lot of notable injuries being reported from the 40 Acres.
Longhorns' starting lineup is obliterated on both sides of the ball in Week 10
OrangeBlood's Texas football beat reporter Anward Richardson gave a fairly in-depth breakdown of which players are suffering the most significant injuries after the win over MSU, and it included five starters possibly joining edge rusher Colin Simmons and left tackle Trevor Goosby on the IR:
- Hollywood Smothers (RB): "severe" shoulder and knee injuries; regular season could be over
- Graceson Littleton (CB): knee injury; regular season could be over
- Kade Phillips (CB): groin injury; could miss 2-4 weeks
- Cam Coleman (WR): shoulder injury; likely questionable vs. Missouri
- Ryan Wingo (WR): shoulder injury; further testing necessary
All five of those players are usual starters for the Horns on their respective sides of the ball. Then, Simmons is still considered week-to-week after suffering a high ankle sprain against the Florida Gators in Week 7.
Goosby, who suffered a torn patellar tendon against Florida, underwent reparative surgery in the days following the game and was sidelined for the rest of the season.
Texas luckily has locked down the depth to make up for slew of injuries
If both Coleman and Wingo are stuck on the sidelines against Missouri, expect true freshman Jermaine Bishop Jr. and transfer senior Sterling Berkhalter to step into their places on the depth chart.
Similarly, if Smothers is sidelined (for a third time this season), look to see an increase in reps for both sophomore running back Michael Terry III and true freshman RB Derrek Cooper Jr.
The Horns could also see an increase in snaps for freshman defensive backs Samari Matthews and John Meredith III, as well as redshirt junior Warren Roberson and redshirt freshman Jonathan Cunningham, if both Littleton and Phillips are officially ruled out.
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