By Steve Habel/Senior Editor
AUSTIN, Texas — There nothing easy about how the Texas football team will play out the string in a season of lost chances, bad breaks and disappointing results.
The Longhorns, with their loss Thanksgiving night to Texas Tech, will not play in a bowl game for the second time in the past six years. Texas ends the 2015 campaign Saturday at No. 12-ranked Baylor. The Bears have nothing to prove and little for which to play, but have plenty of reasons to show how much better they are, at 9-2, than the 4-7 Longhorns.
Remember all those times when [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]Texas and Baylor played at old Floyd Casey Stadium and there was more burnt orange in the stands that green and gold? I guarantee you that the Baylor folks still have that in their craw.
“We have one more game to play and our guys want to send our seniors out the right way,” Texas coach Charlie Strong said Monday at his weekly media availability. “It still about going out and being competitive. Some guys that are playing for us Saturday will never out on a football uniform again, so it will mean a lot to them.”
Texas’ chances to pull off an upset — the Longhorns opened the week as a 20-point underdog, even with Baylor down to its third-string quarterback (Chris Johnson) — in its first trip to Baylor’s opulent McLane Stadium, will be even tougher because of its M*A*S*H ward of injuries.
The Longhorns will be without linebacker Peter Jinkens (knee), running backs D’Onta Foreman (finger) and Kirk Johnson (knee) and offensive lineman Patrick Vahe, each of whom was ruled out for the game — and therefore, for the season — Monday by Strong.
Strong also said running back Johnathan Gray, defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway, linebacker Malik Jefferson, safety Dylan Haines and quarterback Jerrod Heard will be evaluated daily between now and Saturday to determine their availability.
With Heard a question mark, Strong said Tyrone Swoopes will get the nod as starting quarterback, giving him starts in Texas’ first game (a 38-3 loss to Notre Dame) and the last.
“The key to us competing and staying in the game against Baylor is to get off to a fast start and getting Swoopes into a good rhythm early on,” Strong said. “Beating Baylor will be a tough assignment, because even with their top two quarterbacks down, the rest of that team is surrounding and helping that third-string guy.”
Other items gleaned from Monday’s presser included:
Freshman running back Chris Warren III was honored as the Big 12 Conference’s offensive player of the week on Monday for his performance in the loss to Texas Tech. Warren ran for a Texas freshman-record 276 yards in his first career start. Cedric Benson previously held the freshman rushing record by a Longhorn with 213 yards. Warren also set a record for the longest carry by a freshman in school history on his 91-yard touchdown run and scored four touchdowns — another a freshman record.
Freshmen have played key roles this season, with 17 members of the 23-man recruiting class of 2015 seeing regular action, with eight true freshmen combining for 55 starts. Two redshirt freshmen have started a total of 16 games and all totaled 10 freshmen have started 71 games. Sophomores also are making a big impact, as seven of them have combined to start 47 games. Combined, 17 underclassmen have started 118 games.
Of Strong’s two signing classes at Texas, 32 of the 43 freshmen and sophomores are seeing significant snaps.
A total of 36 players for Texas have seen the first action of their careers this season. Only three other teams have had more first-time players see the field in 2015: Kansas (39), Florida State (39) and TCU (37).
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