Texas Longhorns Power Through UTEP Miners With Young Running Back Trio

The Texas Longhorns picked up their second win of the season with a 27-10 victory over the UTEP Miners, with a less-than-stellar performance, especially from the offensive side of the ball.

Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning once again struggled, completing just 11 of his 25 pass attempts for a minimal 44 percent completion percentage, throwing for 114 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.

In a game where the offense struggled to throw the ball consistently, the Longhorns were able to control the game on the ground with a trio of young running backs becoming difference makers for the Longhorns.

Young Running Backs Show Up for the Longhorns

Texas Longhorns running back Christian Clark (6) runs for yards during the first half against the Texas El Paso Miners at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Texas finished the game with a solid performance on the ground, racking up 232 yards on the ground and two touchdowns.

CJ Baxter got the start for the Longhorns with Quintrevion Wisner sitting out for the second straight week. However, after Baxter’s first carry of the game, the running back wound up hurt and missed the rest of the game with a hamstring injury.

With Baxter being out, second-year players Christian Clark and Jerrick Gibson were able to get more reps, and true freshman James Simon made his debut, which was critical as Steve Sarkisian talked about postgame and praised the young running backs' performances.

“Losing CJ the first play of the game kind of forced some other guys into action quicker,” Sarkisian said. “Which in the end was probably a positive for us that we got to see more of Christian, Jerrick, and obviously more of James Simon. And I thought our ability to run the football was good tonight.”

In his debut, the true freshman was the Longhorns' leading rusher as Simon totaled 67 yards on 17 carries. Gibson was Texas’s second leading rusher with 64 yards on 18 carries, while Clark rushed for 32 yards on just seven carries.

Sarkisian liked the way his younger running backs played despite many of them not receiving the usual load of carries and mentioned there is room to grow for the group.

“I felt like we had a really good plan and I thought we blocked for them really well,” Sarkisian said. “I thought some of our runners, just first time for a lot of those guys, really playing like that. And some of the runs, I think there were probably some more yards to be had.”

Depending on the health statuses of both Baxter and Wisner, the trio of young running backs for the Longhorns could once again see expanded playing time when Texas hosts the Sam Houston State Bearkats next Saturday.