The Longhorns need to remain somewhat healthy
Prior to kickoff the the season, the Longhorns have already lost one of their top receivers from a season ago in Jake Smith. His hamstring injury suffered during the final week of practice leading up to the game will keep him sidelined on Saturday. While you can add that they Longhorns have plenty of fire power on offense, they won’t miss Smith all that much. The only issue is him not getting in game reps with the offense ahead of Texas Tech.
Texas already lost their standout freshman wideout in Troy Omeire, who was turning heads in camp. He likely would have been in the rotation, especially against the Miners. Isaiah Hookfin was in the running for the starting job at right guard but a shoulder injury has sidelined him as well. The big key for Texas is to stay healthy for this game. Building a big lead early on in the contest and get the starters out of the game.
Due to the fact that there was no spring ball for this team. these in game reps are valuable for the younger players on the roster. Texas can find out what they have behind quarterback Sam Ehlinger with Casey Thompson and Hudson Card. More so Card since he doesn’t have any game reps unlike Thompson. Defensively the younger guys such as Collins, Vernon Broughton Jr and Jaylan Ford could use as many reps as possible.