While the Longhorns were warming up for today's matchup against the San Jose State Spartans, we noticed that both RB Quintrevion Wisner and DT Alex January were off to the side in street clothes, alongside two other players. With no information or update as to why before the game, it was assumed that they were being held out for precautionary reasons.
Shortly after the game concluded, Steve Sarkisian finally revealed why the playmakers were held out of the home opener today.
He said that Wisner:
"Has got a leg injury. We held him today. We just didn't think it was the right thing to do to force the issue with him. I wanted Christian (Clark) to play more. I wanted Jerrick (Gibson) to get opportunities. It worked out for us that way."
This was probably the right thing to do, as the Longhorns are absolutely loaded with talent in the backfield right now. C.J. Baxter, Christian Clark, and Jerrick Gibson all received 7+ carries today and it was good to see those younger guys get some run (pun intended). There's absolutely no point in forcing a player like Wisner into action against a team like San Jose State.
In regard to January, Sark said:
"Another guy we held out this week. Could we have pressed him into action? I know we have a really deep defensive line room. I think about the big picture here with a lot of these injuries, especially early in the season."
Much like Wisner's reasoning, the depth in the defensive line room is second to none, and there would've been no reason to play January today if something was bothering him health wise. Cole Brevard, Hero Kanu, Maraad Watson, and Josiah Sharma more than picked up the slack against an underwhelming SJSU offensive line.
It was just odd that the injuries weren't reported anywhere before the game.