Quinn Ewers is out for No. 1 Texas football’s SEC opener against Mississippi State on Saturday (3:15 p.m., SEC Network. The abdominal strain from which the team’s starting quarterback is trying to recover is one of the injury situations impacting the Longhorns leading up to the program’s first conference game as an SEC member.
The school’s official injury report was submitted to the SEC on Saturday and released by the conference 90 minutes before kickoff with safety Derek Williams Jr. headlining the list of players other than Ewers who won’t play against the Bulldogs. Along with Ewers and Williams, running backs Velton Gardner and Colin Page and snapper Tate Haver are out for the game.
Wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. was upgraded from questionable to probable on Friday’s report. Safety Jelani McDonald, EDGE Barryn Sorrell and running back Quintrevion Wisner were also considered probable for Texas (4-0, 0-0 SEC).
Williams has been dealing with a hamstring injury, which forced him to miss last Saturday’s 51-3 win over Louisiana-Monroe. The 6-foot-2-inch, 195-pound sophomore hasn’t played since the Longhorns demolished UTSA on Sept. 14, 56-7.
Williams started on defense in the team’s 31-12 road win over Michigan on Sept. 7. In three games, Williams has seven tackles and recorded his first career interception against the Wolverines.
Moore’s outing against the Warhawks was cut short due to what coach Steve Sarkisian said was a hip pointer after hauling in a 6-yard pass from Arch Manning. The 6-foot, 195-pound sophomore has four receptions for 23 yards on the season, including a 19-yard touchdown connection with Manning in the UTSA game.
McDonald has missed the team’s last two games since injuring his ankle in the Michigan game. The 6-foot-2-inch, 205-pound sophomore has four tackles in two games for the Longhorns in 2024.
Sorrell was listed as probable on the four published injury reports during the week.
A 28-game starter in his career who’s played 37 games in a Texas uniform and has twice been named honorable mention All-Big 12, the 6-foot-4-inch, 260-pound Sorrell has seven tackles and two tackles for loss in four games as a senior.
Wisner started against Michigan and UTSA, but his outing against the Roadrunners ended early after carrying the ball six times for 20 yards. The DeSoto product missed the ULM game.
The 6-foot, 200-pound Wisner has rushed for 72 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. He’s also hauled in four receptions for 46 yards in three games.
The Longhorns listed on the injury report as probable dressed for Saturday’s game in full uniform. Ewers and Williams were on the field for pregame warmups wearing their jersey tops and street clothes.
Saturday’s game is the first meeting between Texas and Mississippi State (1-3, 0-1 SEC) since the 1999 Cotton Bowl, a 38-11 win for the Longhorns. The all-time series between Texas and the Bulldogs is tied, 2-2, including a Mississippi State win in the last game of the series played at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in 1992, 28-10.
