Two Texas starters ruled out for Tulsa game

One game into the 2018 season, the Texas Longhorns secondary is already banged out, with a key starter along the offensive line also ruled out for Saturday’s home opener against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane.

Following Thursday’s practice, head coach Tom Herman revealed that junior safety Brandon Jones is out with a high ankle sprain sustained against Maryland last Saturday, while junior center Zach Shackelford will also miss the game due to a foot sprain.

With Shackelford out, the plan is to use senior Elijah Rodriguez at center instead of right guard, with sophomore Derek Kerstetter moving from right tackle to right guard and redshirt freshman Sam Cosmi taking over the right tackle role he helped earn with his performance against the Terps.

The injury news is tentatively more positive for two other members of the Texas secondary — senior cornerback Kris Boyd is expected to play on a sprained ankle and senior cornerback Davante Davis is expected to play despite a sprained neck.

The Longhorns training staff also had to deal with a scary situation involving sophomore offensive guard Patrick Hudson. The 6’5, 325-pounder experienced what Herman described as a “fully-body cramp” on Wednesday that required a visit to the emergency room. The training staff got Hudson into a cold-water bath to get his body temperature, which likely minimized his stay in the ICU. However, Hudson is out this week against Tulsa.