DALLAS — The No. 1 Texas Longhorns lost arguably their top offensive playmaker to injury during Saturday’s 34-3 win over the No. 18 Oklahoma Sooners at the Cotton Bowl.
Texas receiver Isaiah Bond exited in the second quarter and never returned to the game after getting hit hard in the back on a overthrown pass from Quinn Ewers. He limped off the field and was in the medical tent for several minutes before going back to the locker room.
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said Bond suffered an ankle injury that got re-aggravated during the game.
“Isaiah got an ankle (injury),” Sarksian said. “He did it early, and then he kind of re-aggravated it again later in the game, so we just wasn’t able to go. So we’ll continue to monitor him.”
Bond finished the game with just one catch for five yards. He entered the contest as the team’s leading receiver with 20 catches for and 364 receiving yards and four total touchdowns.
He had a would-be touchdown on Texas’ second drive after getting wide open in the middle of the field, but Quinn Ewers short-armed the throw and the ball fell incomplete.
Even with Bond out for the second half, the Longhorns offense didn’t skip a beat despite starting out slow. Texas was led by tight Gunnar Helm, who finished with five catches for a game-high 91 yards and a touchdown. Ryan Wingo added two grabs for 49 yards while DeAndre Moore Jr. had three catches for 25 yards.
The Longhorns will need Bond at full health headed into next week’s meeting with the Georgia Bulldogs. Bond has said he’s “built for big games” prior to the Red River Rivalry, and the matchup against UGA certainly qualifies.
“I’ve heard a lot of great things from the players on the team, to close friends of mine, just telling me that this is basically equivalent to kind of like the Iron Bowl where I’m coming from, my previous team,” Bond said of Red River. “They’re saying it might be an even bigger game than that. I’ve been built for big games, so I love playing a big game, so it’s gonna be a fun time.”
Texas and Georgia kick off from Austin at 6:30 p.m. CT on Oct. 19.