Christian Clark, a true freshman, tore his Achilles tendon during practice on Monday, ending the team’s second season-ending injury at running back for No. 4 Texas, the school confirmed on Tuesday.
Six days after revealing that CJ Baxter, the starting quarterback for the first game of the previous campaign, would require season-ending knee surgery, Texas announced that Clark would have surgery and miss the rest of the campaign.
The Longhorns are down to three scholarship running backs as a result of the losses.
This season, Jaydon Blue—who has played in 23 games for Texas—is anticipated to carry the weight after rushing for 431 yards and three touchdowns. In the Longhorns’ College Football Playoff semifinal loss to Washington, he had four receptions for 45 yards and three kickoff returns for 80 yards.
The Longhorns have two players behind Blue: sophomore Jerrick Gibson, who was listed as the No. 2 running back and the No. 3 overall, and Quintrevion Wisner, a sophomore who participated in all 14 games last season on special teams.
In December, Clark, a four-star prospect from Phoenix’s Mountain Pointe High School, committed to Texas.
Although Gibson and Clark both stumbled during Saturday’s scrimmage in what he called a “welcome to college football moment,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian told reporters on Monday that both players were improving and were “further down the road than some may think.”
In a post-practice video chat with media on Tuesday night, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers said of the injuries, “It definitely hurts to see that go down.” “Injuries do happen. It’s just a part of the game we play. I think [running backs coach Tashard] Choice and Coach Sark do a good job of recruiting good running backs that can ultimately fill in the position if needed. … I think we have guys that are going to be more than capable of stepping in and filling up those roles.”
After gaining confidence in his running ability, Ewers ran for five touchdowns last season, including 30- and 29-yard touchdown runs against Kansas and Baylor. Sarkisian said after the Kansas game that Ewers realized, “Man, maybe I’m a little faster than I thought.”
On Tuesday, Ewers stated that he would be more than willing to take on additional running responsibilities.
“Ultimately, I’m just trying to do whatever I can to help this team win football games,” Ewers stated. “So if that means I need to run more, so be it.”