The 12-team College Football Playoff format means teams looking to compete must create teams built to last the duration of long, physical seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It also means that resting the great majority of the rushing burden in one running back\u2019s hands is a less sustainable model than it used to be. Following Texas football\u2019s worst rushing year during head coach Steve Sarkisian\u2019s era, the Longhorns are embracing 2026 with three new tailbacks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe length of the season has made me think more about it,\u201d Sarkisian said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to manage these bodies, and you\u2019ve got to manage it now more than ever even in our conference, because of the physicality of the conference.\u201d<\/p>\n
While none of Sarkisian\u2019s newest three weapons have Southeastern Conference experience under their belts, he believes what they each bring to the table has the ability to bolster the Longhorns\u2019 rushing game.<\/p>\n
Senior NC State transfer Hollywood Smothers joined the Longhorns this offseason after spending two seasons with the Wolfpack and one at Oklahoma in 2023. Smothers totaled 160 carries for 939 yards in 2025, recording six touchdowns. Fellow Longhorns senior running back Ryan Niblett described Smothers as a smart player with a strong ability to see the field.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Texas\u2019 other transfer portal running back addition, fifth-year former Arizona State ball carrier Raleek Brown, also arrived to the Forty Acres with proven ability. Brown set a program record for rushing yards in a road game last season, racking up 255 yards on 22 carries against Colorado. He also led the team in rushing this past season with 1,141 yards on 186 carries.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to senior linebacker Rasheem Biles, Brown\u2019s \u201ctwitchy\u201d nature is what sets him apart as a running back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s gonna make you miss every time,\u201d Biles said. \u201cHe\u2019s explosive fast.\u201d<\/p>\n
Texas\u2019 third addition for this upcoming season is true freshman and former five-star prospect Derrek Cooper. Cooper was ESPN\u2019s No. 1 ranked running back in the class of 2026 and will likely get the opportunity to show what he\u2019s capable of at some point this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Beyond these three newcomers, Texas will rely on returners like Niblett and sophomore Michael Terry III. Niblett noted earlier in fall camp that the chemistry within this running back room has helped define the dynamic within the position group.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just goofy,\u201d Niblett said. \u201cWe see each other. We just automatically laugh without saying nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Sarkisian emphasized, there will be some games when each of these three ball carriers will be needed equally and others where one running back will likely bear more of the burden. With a long season ahead, each Texas running back will be expected to understand where they fit into this room.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very intentional in what we were trying to do\u2014putting a roster together that could go the distance,\u201d Sarkisian said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to win every game, and we\u2019re trying to play 16 or 17 games, depending on if you get a buy or not. We\u2019re trying to play all the way into late January, but to do that, you\u2019ve got to have people that can play off of one another.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 12-team College Football Playoff format means teams looking to compete must create teams built to last the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-415893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}