Texas WR Joshua Moore ‘good to go’ against TCU

Texas Longhorns junior wide receiver Joshua Moore will be available for Saturday’s game against the TCU Horned Frogs in Fort Worth — head coach Steve Sarkisian said on Thursday that Moore is “good to go.”

Moore’s availability came into question on Wednesday when Horns247 reported that Moore suffered an ankle injury in practice this week.

The leading receiver for Texas in 2020 with 30 receptions for 472 yards and nine touchdowns, Moore has gotten off to a slow start in Sarkisian’s offense, recording only seven catches for 63 yards through the first four games.

While Moore was inconsistent last season, the biggest surprise in 2021 is that he’s not as involved in the run-pass options used by Sarkisian as expected — of the returning wide receivers, he looked like the best fit in that scheme.

On Monday, Sarkisian said the lack of receptions for Moore is partially a result of defenses dictating where the quarterbacks throw the football and a little bit of bad luck.

“I think we’ve gotten two if not three pass interference penalties on him or defensive holding penalties down the field that could have created, you know, kind of explosive plays,” Sarkisian said. “He’s had a couple other balls kind of off his hands — pretty good coverage, kind of off his hands — that I think he’s capable of making those plays.”

So when junior quarterback Casey Thompson does finally start completing some of those shot plays the Longhorns haven’t been able to hit yet this season, Moore and freshman wide receiver Xavier Worthy are the top candidates to record those receptions.

“I feel confident that the numbers will start to show the player that he is, and I think it’s just a matter of time before we hit a couple of these shots, he makes a couple of those contested plays,” Sarkisian said.

When that happens, this Texas offense will truly become dynamic.