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With less than four weeks to go before its season opener against Colorado State, No. 4 Texas has lost a key contributor on its offense.
The Longhorns announced Wednesday that running back CJ Baxter will miss the upcoming football season with a knee injury that will require surgery. The sophomore was expected to help lead the Texas rushing attack this fall before getting hurt during the team’s first full-pads practice of the season Tuesday.
The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Baxter, who was a five-star prospect during the 2023 recruiting cycle, has dealt with a series of injuries since he arrived at Texas. Baxter started last year’s season opener − the last true freshman to have done that as a running back at Texas had been Ricky Williams in 1995 − but injuries opened the door for Jonathon Brooks’ breakout campaign. Brooks left a game against Rice with a rib injury and a game against Texas Tech was cut short by a hip pointer. A foot injury also sidelined him for a game.
Texas running back CJ Baxter practices at Denius Fields on Monday, August 5, 2024. Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman
Baxter still rushed 138 times for 659 yards and five touchdowns in 2023. Both Baxter and Texas junior Jaydon Blue have been placed on the preseason watch list for the Doak Walker Award, and Baxter earned a second-team nod on the Southeastern Conference’s preseason team.
“I’ve just seen a lot of growth and a lot of maturity,” Texas center Jake Majors said of Baxter last week. “I really appreciate him stepping into that role with Blue and just taking it head on and embracing the fact that we’ve had all these great running backs come through and he wants to live up to that standard.”
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Without Baxter, the run game at…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/no-4-texas-confirms-running-200605541.html
Author : USA TODAY Sports
Publish date : 2024-08-07 20:06:05
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