Throughout this season, members of the Texas football team have often found themselves talking about juice.
Those discussions don’t involve apples. Save those conversations about orange, cranberry and grape juices for the dining halls. This was never about pomegranates, peaches, plum or prunes.
Article continues below this ad
For Texas, the word “juice” is synonymous with Quintrevion Wisner, whom Texas coach Steve Sarkisian has said personifies the offense.
Texas Longhorns running back Quintrevion Wisner (5) celebrates after winning the Red River Rivalry 23-6 over the Oklahoma Sooners at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Oct. 11, 2025.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
“I think that guy squeezes every ounce of juice that he’s got into the way he plays the game of football. That’s the way we want to play,” Sarkisian said back in August ahead of the Longhorns’ season opener. “We want to play with maximum effort, maximum toughness and a sense of real physicality, but yet with speed.”
Texas Longhorns running back Quintrevion Wisner (26) carries the ball for Texas in the fourth quarter of the Texas Longhorns’ game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Nov. 23, 2024.
Sara Diggins/American-Statesman
Said quarterback Arch Manning: “Tre is just the ultimate kind of energizer of the offense. He brings good juice every day.”
Article continues below this ad
Said UT safety Michael Taaffe, in September: “I would say that at times we lean on Tre’s juice just because if anybody can get us going, it’s Tre.”
NO. 21 TEXAS AT KENTUCKY
When/where: 6 p.m. Saturday in Lexington, Ky.
TV/radio:Â ESPN; 1300 AM, 98.1 FM, 105.3 FM (Spanish)
MORE:Â Texas schedule laid a trap for the Longhorns at Kentucky. Here’s how.
How does Wisner himself define juice? He was asked just that last month.
Article continues below this ad
“Just waking up knowing that you’ve got a job to do and doing it to the fullest,” Wisner said. “Even on my hard days, I’m willing to get that extra bit that I got, that extra bit that may bring one of my (offensive linemen) up, or bring a defensive lineman up, just something to get somebody going.”
The 6-foot, 194-pound running back knows that “not being one of the bigger backs, I’ve got to have something about me that gets people going … just me having that juice, it’s not only benefiting me, but it’s benefiting everybody around me.”
This weekend, a juiced-up Wisner will lead No. 21 Texas (4-2, 1-1 SEC) to Kentucky (2-3, 0-3). Wisner is coming off a performance against Oklahoma in which he accumulated 128 yards of offense in UT’s season-saving 23-6 win at the Cotton Bowl.
Texas Longhorns running back Quintrevion Wisner (5) is tackled by Oklahoma Sooners defensive back Peyton Bowen (22) in the Red River Rivalry, as the Sooners play the Longhorns at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Oct. 11, 2025. Texas won the game 23-6.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
Can Quintrevion Wisner get Texas back on a 1,000-yard pace?
Due to his play at BYU and his list of collegiate pupils, Sarkisian has long been associated with quarterbacks. But he has never hidden his love for the ground game. In Sarkisian’s 11 previous seasons as a head coach, his offenses produced a 1,000-yard rusher in 10 of those campaigns. The exception to that comes with an asterisk since he was fired after the fifth game of USC’s 2015 season; the Trojans’ leading rusher that year ended up with 987 yards.
Article continues below this ad
So what started with Chris Polk and Bishop Sankey at Washington from 2009-13 was continued by USC’s Javorius Allen in 2014. Bijan Robinson extended Sarkisian’s rushing run at Texas during the 2021 and 2022 seasons before Jonathon Brooks ran for 1,139 yards in 2023. Last year, a 186-yard performance against Texas A&M and a 110-yard, two-touchdown outing in the College Football Playoff against Clemson helped Wisner record the 27th 1,000-yard season in school history.
MORE: Longhorns betting lines, preview, prediction for Week 8
But there is a chance that Sarkisian’s streak of 1,000-yard rushers will end this season. Halfway through the regular season, Manning’s 194 rushing yards lead the team. Texas entered this season with two names on the Doak Walker Award watch list, but both Wisner and CJÂ Baxter Jr. have battled injuries.
Due to a hurt hamstring, Baxter hasn’t played since the first offensive snap of the UTEP game Sept. 13. Wisner rushed for a team-high 80 yards in the Longhorns’ opener at Ohio State — which remains the most yards allowed this season by the now-No. 1 Buckeyes — but he missed the next three weeks with a leg injury.
Article continues below this ad
Wisner returned Oct. 4 for a 29-21 loss at Florida. He said he “felt good” after scoring twice against the Gators, but he was bottled up in the backfield and limited to 11 yards on eight carries. The following week against Oklahoma, he rushed 22 times for 94 yards — 37 of which came on one second-quarter run — and he picked up a first down on two of his five receptions.
“I think what he found out last week is that he’s healthy, he’s good, he’s strong, he’s mentally strong in going and doing those things,” Sarkisian said. “We know Tre very well, and we know what he’s capable of, and we know the mental and physical toughness that he possesses.”
Kentucky Wildcats defensive back JQ Hardaway (6) tackles Texas Longhorns running back Quintrevion Wisner (26) in the fourth quarter of the Texas Longhorns’ game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Nov. 23, 2024.
Sara Diggins/American-Statesman
Sarkisian: Quintrevion Wisner provides inspiration for Texas
Manning can run the ball, so that gives Sarkisian an additional option as a play-caller. But among the running backs, Texas has relied almost exclusively on Wisner in SEC play. Nonquarterbacks recorded 39 carries for UT against Florida and Oklahoma. Wisner got 30 of those touches.
Article continues below this ad
One year after Wisner rushed for 158 yards against Kentucky in what was his breakout game for Texas, he likely will see plenty of additional opportunities against the Wildcats. Baxter was listed as doubtful on Wednesday’s availability report. Jerrick Gibson, who has totaled the third-most rushing attempts among the Longhorns, left the team this week.
MORE: Freshmen from Texas’ top-rated 2025 signing class are delivering the goods
That leaves young backs Christian Clark and James Simon as Wisner’s expected backups against Kentucky, which ranks 86th nationally in rushing defense at 153.6 yards per game. Sarkisian acknowledged that freshman receiver Michael Terry III got some backfield reps in practice this week, and the versatile Ryan Niblett can also play the position.
But back to Wisner’s juice. Sarkisian didn’t seem too concerned about his depth chart Thursday and assessed that Clark and Simon just had arguably their best weeks of practice. Why? Because Clark and Simon, a redshirt freshman and a true freshman, got to see a healthy Wisner play against Oklahoma.
Article continues below this ad
“I think they actually saw the healthy version of Tre Wisner and what it looks like to run in-game and then come back and practice and go do it again this week,” Sarkisian said. “I’m excited for those two guys as well, because sometimes you need to see it in person.”
Follow the American-Statesman on Facebook and X for more. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Access all of our best content with this tremendous offer.