Texas Newcomers Answered Big Questions in Dominant Performance

After losing 11 players to the 2024 NFL Draft, many questions were asked about the Texas Longhorns football team entering its first year under Steve Sarkisian without key contributors such as Xavier Worthy, Jordan Whittington and Jaylan Ford.

What will Texas do without T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy in the middle? Who is going to catch the ball for quarterback Quinn Ewers? What position group can improve from next year?

Texas fans needed to see new names and faces step up in its opening game against Colorado State on Saturday to have confidence heading into the season: and they got just that.

Replacing the over 4,500 yards of production between Worthy, Whittington, Adonai Mitchell, Jonathon Brooks and JaTavion Sanders was never going to be an easy task in 2024, but a few key players showed they can fill those shoes.

While returning RB Jaydon Blue led the team in scrimmage yards, four of the five others with over 50 yards on Saturday were newcomers to Austin. Freshman running back Jerrick Gibson, who will be tasked with filling major shoes after Brooks’ departure and CJ Baxter’s preseason injury, led the team in yards and yards per carry against the Rams, showing tremendous grit in his five-yard rushing touchdown to all but secure the win in the third quarter. The four-star finished the game with 67 yards on 10 carries, also adding the longest rush by a running back with a 22-yard scamper to set up that score.

In the pass-catching game, Texas looked to the transfer portal for talent this offseason, and already seems to be getting rewarded. No. 1 WR transfer and former Alabama player Isaiah Bond caught a team-high five passes for 61 yards, including a nasty outside route to score a touchdown even after a defender grabbed his facemask. Houston transfer Matthew Golden was the only player to score twice, most notably on a viral Ewers no-look pass. Even Oregon State transfer Silas Bolden, who saw little action during the game, cemented himself in the history books, catching redshirt freshman Arch Manning’s first-career touchdown pass in the third quarter.

But the show was stolen by one player on the offense: Ryan Wingo. The five-star freshman flashed early, making a fantastic contested catch for the first down in the first quarter. Wingo and Manning linked up for 45 of the young QB’s 95 yards, proving that a future connection is already starting in Austin. Wingo led all receivers in receiving yards, while Bond added 25 on the ground on an effortless jet sweep.

On the defensive side of the ball, the fear of losing Sweat and Murphy still looms over the team, but reinforcements were made. Returners like Vernon Broughton stepped up in the run game, and Arizona transfers Bill Norton and Tiaoalii Savea helped clog the middle, and introduced the newest phenomenon on the Texas sideline: a sword used to puncture turnovers caused by the defense, a staple at now-linebacker coach Pete Nansen’s Arizona Wildcats last season.

Secondary concerns also seemed to be answered, as the Longhorns held an air-raid offense to just 74 total yards. Clemson safety transfer Andrew Mukuba looked solid, but freshman Wardell Mack stole the show with a beautiful interception in the endzone to prevent the Rams from scoring. He was, of course, rewarded with his ball on the turnover sword.

Texas still needs to go back to the drawing board to be able to stop a rushing attack like Michigan’s in Ann Arbor on Saturday, especially without Murphy or Sweat, but the Longhorns have seemed to find the right guys to fit into a new and exciting 2024 team.