Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was on ‘Always College Football’ podcast with Greg McElroy.talking about Texas running back C.J. Baxter and gave an illuminating answer on the topic of his third-year running back.
“Cedric Baxter is a wild card. You know, he was starting for us as a true freshman. He was poised, I thought, for a big season last year, hurt the knee. We’ve been methodical in our approach with him. He’s done everything we’ve asked of him in his recovery. My thing with that is, I don’t want to put him out there before he’s really ready to play. He’s given me no reason not to think that he’s not going to be ready.
“But I guess I’m being a little more cautious than most, because I can be knowing that, hey, I’ve got I’ve got these three other guys in that room. I’ve got a wild card in Ryan Niblet, I’ve got a true freshman and James Simon, like we have other players in that room. I want to make sure, when CJ Baxter plays for us, he’s ready to play. It could be week one against Ohio State, that if he’s ready, he’s going to play. Could it be, you know, week two, week three, week four? Could it be our SEC opener at Florida? I don’t know. I know we’re a better team with Cedric Baxter’s healthy and ready to go, but I’m don’t feel like I’m in a place where, man, I need C4 against Ohio State or we’re in trouble.
“We’ve got a returning we got a rusher in Trey Wisner, who was a 1,000 yard rusher last season. We’ve got these other two guys who can play football. So when we get Cedric Baxter back 100% healthy, we’re going to be a better team. But again, it’s a little bit of a luxury because I don’t feel like I’m gonna have to force him back to play maybe when he’s not quite ready to go. But he’ll tell us when he’s ready and when that time comes, it’s going to be go time for him.”