Texas Longhorns Announce Devastating Injury Diagnosis For Running Back Christian Clark.
With just weeks to go before the start of the 2024 college football season and their opener against Colorado State, the Texas Longhorns find themselves painfully thin at an absolutely vital position.
According to multiple reports, Texas freshman running back Christian Clark suffered a torn Achilles in practice this past Monday and will have to undergo season-ending surgery. The announcement comes mere days after starting running back CJ Baxter suffered a season-ending injury of his own.
Clark was a four-star prospect in the Class of 2024, per 247Sports. He was the No. 339 player in the country and the No. 23 running back in his class.
After Baxter’s injury Clark was expected to get a bigger role in the offense than he likely would have as a true freshman.
The injury to Clark has left the Longhorns painfully thin at the position. According to Texas insider Anwar Richardson, the team is already mulling moving redshirt freshman Ryan Niblett from wide receiver to running back to fill the void in the running backs room.
Replacing Clark at the position will be much easier than replacing the lost production though.
With the loss of Baxter, the Longhorns only have two of their top 10 rushers from last season still on the roster. Junior Jaydon Blue is probably going to be seeing the ball a lot this season.
After seeing last year’s leading rushing Jonathon Brooks go to the NFL, the Texas Longhorns football team had big expectations on running back CJ Baxter. Unfortunately, a preseason injury is set to end his year before it begins.
According to Texas insider Anwar Richardson of Orangebloods.com, Baxter tore his LCL and PCL in practice on Tuesday. Per the report, he needs to undergo surgery with a recovery time of six to nine months and is expected to miss the rest of the season.
“I just learned Texas running back CJ Baxter is expected to miss the season after tearing his LCL/PCL during practice on Tuesday. Baxter’s injury will require surgery and the recovery time is between six to nine months,” Richardson wrote.
Baxter was second on the team in rushing and fourth in yards from scrimmage last season as the Longhorns won the Big 12 Championship Game and reached their first-ever College Football Playoff.
In 13 games for Texas, Baxter had 659 rushing yards and five touchdowns with another 156 receiving yards.
The loss of Baxter leaves the Longhorns without each of their top five yardage leaders from the 2023 season. Not a good sign ahead of their first year in the SEC.
Will the Longhorns be able to overcome the loss of CJ Baxter?
