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.
Related: Report: Texas Football Suffers Crushing Season-Ending Injury