Texas Longhorns Have a Major Opportunity to Answer Their Biggest 2026 Question

The Texas Longhorns had several issues that head coach Steve Sarkisian and company needed to address heading into the 2026 season in order to get the Longhorns back into the College Football Playoff after missing out last season.

From needing to retool an offensive line that struggled immensely to restructuring a defense at both the coaching and player personnel level, one aspect standing out among the rest was that the Longhorns needed to fix the running back room.

The Longhorns head into the 2026 season with nearly a brand-new running back room. Texas has only three returners from a season ago, who are joined by two transfer portal additions and an exciting freshman, all of whom will be tasked with reenergizing Texas's rushing attack, which needs to be seen from Week 1, when Texas opens the season against the Texas State Bobcats this Saturday.

Explosiveness in the Backfield Needs to Return on Saturday

Arizona State Sun Devils running back Raleek Brown (3) runs the ball as Mississippi State Bulldogs linebacker Jalen Smith (10) makes the tackle. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It was no secret that the Longhorns were unable to run the ball consistently for the majority of the 2025 season, with Texas ending the season with the worst running game in the Sarkisian era.

And brought in to add another dimension and new juice to the Texas running back room was the duo of Raleek Brown and Hollywood Smothers, both of whom are expected to play big roles out of the backfield for the Longhorns, which Texas should have the ability to do right away against Texas State.

Brown was the definition of explosive out of the backfield for the Arizona State Sun Devils, with the running back having 12 rushing plays of 20 yards or more, which is the same number the Longhorns had as a team in 2025.

Brown had eight games where he ended with a run of more than 20 yards, with an 88-yard rushing touchdown against Colorado being the biggest of them all.

Smothers was just as explosive for the NC State Wolfpack a year ago, with the running back recording nine rushing plays of 20 yards or more.

Additionally, Smothers had five games in which his longest rush was 40 yards or more, with a 65-yard rushing touchdown against Pitt being his longest rushing touchdown of the season.

The Longhorns also have other explosive options in the backfield, including five-star freshman Derrek Cooper, who brings a different downhill running style than Brown and Smothers, while also having Ryan Niblett in the fold, who proved in 2025 that he can be a game-changer with the ball in his hands in the open field.

Texas has a retooled offensive line that should be able to open up more running lanes for the running back room, and the Longhorns have runners with more speed and juice who will be able to return the explosiveness out of the rushing attack.

And the Longhorns will have to show just that on Saturday against the Bobcats, with Sarkisian needing to intentionally establish the running game with his play calling, which will allow his running back to get into a groove and pop long runs.

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