Michael Taaffe was already stuck on the sidelines when the No. 20 Texas Longhorns faced (and defeated) the No. 9 Vanderbilt Commodores. Throughout the game, he had a few teammates join him as they went down with injuries of their own.
Defensive back Jelani McDonald had to be helped to the locker room, leaving for the remainder of the game. Then, wide receiver Ryan Wingo was in the medical tent for a brief period during the matchup before officially being sidelined for the remainder of the game with an apparent injury to his hand.
With Taaffe and McDonald both out of commission, the Texas secondary looked a little different than usual as head coach Steve Sarkisian had to sub in sophomores Derek Williams and Xavier Filsaime as well as freshman Jonah Williams.
After the game, Sarkisian sort of addressed the injuries that the Horns suffered, something he doesn't normally do in press conferences immediately following a game.
"Wingo hurt his thumb. We were down a couple other receivers in the first half," Sarkisian said. "Michael Taaffe wasn't able to go. We lost Jelani McDonald very early in the game, so that put Derek Williams and Xavier Filsaime in there, then ultimately had Jonah Williams out there. Guys stepped up. That's what happened in November."
Sarkisian went on to say that "in an emergency, emergency I think [Wingo] could have gone in," which gave fans hope that their star wideout could return for the next game in two weeks.
Arch Manning spread the love
Wingo scored the Longhorns' first touchdown of the game on a 75-yard reception on the first play of Texas's first drive. After he was sidelined, Texas quarterback Arch Manning made sure to connect with (almost all of) his other receivers, racking up an impressive 328 yards.
Manning connected with 10 targets throughout the game, finding three different guys for touchdowns, including Wingo's game-opener.
Texas receiving stats vs. Vanderbilt
- Ryan Wingo - 2 receptions, 89 yards, 1 touchdown
- Emmett Mosley V - 7 receptions, 69 yards, 1 touchdown
- DeAndre Moore Jr. - 3 receptions, 49 yards
- Quintrevion Wisner - 2 receptions, 28 yards
- Jack Endires - 3 receptions, 24 yards
- Parker Livingstone - 2 receptions, 21 yards
- Ryan Niblett - 2 receptions, 19 yards
- Daylan McCutcheon - 2 receptions, 18 yards
- CJ Bxter - 1 reception, 6 yards, 1 touchdown
- Jordan Washington - 1 reception, 5 yards
The pass to running backs Quintrevion Wisner and CJ Baxter only made their already-impressive days even better. Wisner also earned 75 yards and a touchdown on the ground as Baxter tacked on 22 rushing yards.
Even with the injuries on both sides of the ball, Texas was firing on all cylinders against the top-10 opponent, and the same needs to be true in two weeks when the Horns face No. 5 Georgia on the road.