On Wednesday, head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Texas football program received some devastating news when it was announced that running back CJ Baxter would miss the 2024 season due to injury. Baxter reportedly suffered a torn LCL/PCL that will force Sarkisian to have to shift his lineup a bit in the offensive backfield.
Later on Thursday, Sarkisian commented on the injury and how sorry he feels for Baxter as he goes through the ordeal.
“I hate it for the kid,” Sarkisian said, per Zach Dimmitt of Sports Illustrated. ” … If we polled our team or the top three teammates on our team, Cedric Baxter would be in that top one, two or three. And as much as we love him for the player that he is, we love him more for the teammate that he is, and our thoughts and prayers with him. We're encouraged by all the doctors that he's going to make a really healthy recovery, and we'll have him back for next season.”
Baxter is entering his sophomore year with the program after a very successful freshman campaign that saw him make several huge plays in big moments, especially after running back Jonathan Brooks went down with his own season ending injury a year ago.
The news slightly dims the high hopes for a Texas football squad looking to capitalize on last year's trip to the college football playoff, where they just barely missed out on an appearance in the national championship game with a narrow loss to the Washington Huskies in the semifinal round.
Among the more notable moments for Texas a season ago was the huge win against Alabama football.
This year, after the conference realignment that occurred during the offseason, there are several more big games on the schedule for the Longhorns, including a home tilt with the Georgia Bulldogs, who have won two out of the last three national championships, in early October.
In any case, the Longhorns' season is slated to get underway on August 31.
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