The most productive running back this season for the Texas Longhorns will not be available for Saturday’s home game against the West Virginia Mountaineers, head coach Tom Herman said on Tuesday, as junior Keaontay Ingram will be out with the high ankle sprain that he suffered against the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
Ingram, who leads the Texas running backs with 53 carries for 250 yards, suffered the injury midway through the first quarter on a four-yard carry in the Oklahoma State red zone. On the next play, Ingram was able to score his first rushing touchdown of the first season, but then hobbled off the field and did not return.
According to Herman, the injury will not require surgery, but Ingram will miss several weeks. With a bye week looming following the West Virginia game this weekend, it’s possible that Ingram could return for the Kansas game on Nov. 21 or the Iowa State game the following week.
Until then, the Longhorns will rely on freshman Bijan Robinson, who has started the last two games, and sophomore Roschon Johnson, who has battled multiple injuries that limited him for several weeks.
“Having done this for almost 25 years — and Coach [Stan] Drayton for almost 30 — the game starts slowing down for these young tailbacks, and it is for Bijan, and we’re going to lean on him and Roschon pretty heavily in this game.”
It’s also possible that transfer Gabe Watson, who joined the team from Sioux Falls College just before the season, could see the first action of his Texas career.
In other injury news, graduate transfer wide receiver Brenden Schooler practiced on Monday after missing the Oklahoma State game with a thigh contusion suffered several weeks ago that required draining on multiple occasions. Schooler got off to a strong start this season with nine catches for 123 yards with two touchdowns in the first two games, but has only caught one pass in the last four games.
Meanwhile, redshirt freshman wide receiver Jordan Whittington is “feeling a lot better” after suffering a hip strain against Oklahoma that kept him out the last two games. Whittington just started running and jogging, so he may be able to return after the bye week. Whittington has only played six quarters this season due to multiple injuries.
After leading the team with seven catches for 70 yards and converting two important fourth downs late in the game against the Cowboys, including scoring the go-ahead touchdown, sophomore wide receiver Jake Smith said on Monday that his hamstring feels 100 percent after he missed several games this season thanks to that injury.