411OnTheForty — Part 4: Get to know Roschon Johnson
By Riley Zayas
Roschon Johnson is a talented sophomore running back from Port Neches, Texas, who helped to anchor Texas' running game in 2019 amid several injuries to the unit, including starter Keaontay Ingram. Johnson was also named an Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar last week.
3 Facts:
- Johnson originally came to Austin as a quarterback. However, when head coach Tom Herman had a need at the running back position, Johnson answered the call. Playing a new position, he hung in against a tough conference schedule, rushing for 643 yards in 2019.
- During his senior year of high school, Johnson was named one of five finalists for the Watkins Award, which is given annually to the nation's top African-American scholar-athlete. His performance in the classroom was stellar throughout high school as he maintained a 4.0 GPA all four years. That has continued at Texas. He has been named to the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll three times, in spring 2019, fall 2019 and spring 2020.
- Johnson also ran track in high school, competing in the 400 meters and 4-by-100-meter relay. At the Texas Relays in 2018, he gave Longhorn fans a taste of what to expect from him on the football field, as he helped Port Neches-Groves High finish the 4-by-100-meter relay in a time of 44. 93 seconds.
2 Accomplishments:
- Finished high school as Port Neches-Groves leading passer with 7,710 yards and second in rushing with 4,900 yards.
- Was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on two occasions in 2019. The first came after a 126-yard performance at West Virginia, the most rushing yards for a true freshman since Chris Warren III in 2015. The second came after he scored three touchdowns against Texas Tech on Thanksgiving weekend.
1 Quote:
“I’m kind of going along with it,” Johnson told The Austin American-Statesman in his first interview since the position change. “We’ve discussed with Coach (Tom) Herman that I’m going to switch back to quarterback after this season, but I’m just taking it day by day — just contributing to the team right now.”
