During his Friday press conference, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said the Longhorns’ first six Citrus Bowl practices were geared toward his program’s younger players who hadn’t seen as much action this year. Those training sessions functioned as opportunities for more hands-on work with players further down the depth chart before today started real on-field prep for Michigan for the frontline Horns.
“These guys’ energy, intent in practice — we had six developmental practices where we were really focused on getting back to the fundamentals, the techniques, the basics of what and how we try to play to play football around here,” Sarkisian said. “Those guys embraced those practices.”
When asked who stood out, Sarkisian mentioned a few players by name but as usual lamented the fact that he might have left someone out.
“I thought it was really good practice for the running backs,” Sarkisian said. (New Texas running backs coach Jabbar) Juluke got in a little sooner, so to see those guys practice with the intent they practiced with, I think about Christian Clark, James Simon, Michael Terry.”
Clark was a redshirt freshman during the 2025 season. Simon and Terry, both true freshmen, maintained their redshirts.
This year, Clark had 35 carries for 131 yards and a touchdown. Most of those touches came against San Jose State, UTEP, and Sam Houston. In SEC play, he had eight carries for 16 yards in four games. Simon finished the season with 29 carries for 122 yards. The majority of those carries were against UTEP, where he had 17 rushes for 67 yards. His only touches in SEC play came versus Oklahoma, where he had three carries for five yards and a reception for a loss of one yard.
Terry saw six snaps versus Sam Houston prior to his midseason move to running back.
“These have been great practices for Jaime Ffrench and Kaliq Lockett,” Sarkisian said.
Lockett had three catches for 12 yards while Ffrench had one reception for six yards. Ffrench’s only SEC action on offense was five snaps versus Arkansas. Lockett’s sole SEC appearance on offense was a three-snap day versus Vanderbilt. Both maintained their redshirts
“I think about Emaree Winston who kind of fell back a little bit. Nick Townsend, we saw his growth,” Sarkisian said. “And Jordan (Washington). I think Emaree, those practices were good for him.”
Winston logged offensive snaps versus San Jose State, UTEP, Sam Houston, Florida, Oklahoma, and Mississippi State. He was part of Texas’ tight end rotation for much of the first part of the season, and even logged two catches for 47 yards in early-year action. He did not play once the calendar turned to November.
Townsend was a revelation for the Longhorns. Though his statistical contributions were limited, he scored a rushing touchdown against Texas A&M in the last game of the regular season. Townsend logged double-digit snaps versus San Jose State, UTEP, Sam Houston, Mississippi State, Arkansas, and Texas A&M and showed impressive tenacity as a blocker.
Washington finished the season with seven catches for 109 yards and a touchdown that came versus Sam Houston. He played double-digit snaps versus San Jose State, UTEP, Sam Houston, Florida, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, and Georgia.
“I think about Zelus Hicks at safety,” Sarkisian said. “I thought these practices have been great for him.”
Hicks played in one game, the Sam Houston contest. Originally a member of the class of 2026, Hicks reclassified and enrolled early at the beginning of this year. He did not record any stats.
“Bo Barnes at linebacker, which he’s going to be needed,” Sarkisian said. “We’re a little thin at that spot. He’ll probably play in this game. We’re getting him ready to go.”
From Monday following the news of Liona Lefau‘s portal intentions…
A true freshman from Dallas (Texas) Skyline, Barnes has one career tackle to his name. He played versus San Jose State, Sam Houston, and Arkansas in 2025 and made his lone stop late versus the Razorbacks. Of his 24 defensive snaps in 2025, 21 were off-ball reps according to PFF. Listed at 244 pounds by Texas, Barnes is currently several pounds shy of his official listing and has received a significant amount of reps during Texas’ bowl practices according to a source. Barnes was On3’s No. 1 linebacker and No. 32 overall prospect in the 2025 cycle.
“A couple of the interior defensive linemen in Josiah Sharma and Myron Charles,” Sarkisian said. “I think these practices have been great for them. Smith Orogbo. A lot of faces.”
Sharma, Charles, and Orogbo all redshirted. Sharma logged one tackle in three games but did not play in any SEC contests. Charles played in two games with one tackle. He also did not face any SEC competition. Orogbo made a splash one of his two appearances, logging a sack and a forced fumble late in the Sam Houston game. All maintained their redshirts.
While most of those mentioned may not see a considerable increase in playing time versus Michigan, Sarkisian emphasized they all need to be ready because of the amount of players who won’t be available for the Longhorns in Orlando.
“When you’ve only got 65 scholarship players, everybody’s got to be ready to go,” Sarkisian said. “If you’re not in the starting lineup, you keep your batting (gloves) in the dugout because you never know when your number is going to get called into the on-deck circle. Everybody’s got to be ready to go in this game and that should serve as a good opportunity for these guys to practice with real intent to be ready to play come the 31st.”