AUSTIN, Texas — The 15 days between the season-ending injury to Texas Longhorns sophomore running back CJ Baxter and the addition of SMU Mustangs transfer running back Velton Gardner last Wednesday, depth at the position took center stage as the program’s biggest storyline of preseason camp.
That’s in no small part because another season-ending injury to a running back, this time freshman Christian Clark, came just a week after Baxter went down, leaving the Longhorns with only three healthy scholarship running backs.
The wait for scholarship help at the position was extended because Gardner had to graduate from SMU to enroll at Texas, head coach Steve Sarkisian revealed during his Monday press conference ahead of Saturday’s season opener in Austin against Colorado State.