‘He’s cut from a Brillo pad’ — Texas RB Quintrevion Wisner’s strength carries Longhorns during game-clinching drive

Saturday’s fourth quarter against Kentucky was a true gut-check moment for No. 3 Texas. Steve Sarkisian put his faith in someone who “might be the toughest guy on our team.”

Sophomore running back Quintrevion Wisner admitted it was “my first time ever having to you know, just absolutely carry the load.”

But Wisner did just that when Texas took over with 11:32 remaining, running five straight times for 42 yards. Then, he gave way to Jaydon Blue, who ran it twice for 9 yards. Wisner came back onto the field and ran three times, picking up two first downs. Then it was Blue for gains for 13 and 3 yards.

Finally, with Texas ready to deliver a knockout punch, Wisner ran up the middle for 5 yards, up the middle again for 1 and finally 1 more for a touchdown.

“He’s cut from a Brillo pad, he is so tough,” Sarkisian said.

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Wisner and Blue combined to run the ball 15 straight times on an 86-yard drive that chewed up 8 minutes, 22 seconds and secured Texas’ 31-14 win at Royal-Memorial Stadium.

“Just being able to step up to the plate, I just knew hard work pays off,” Wisner said. “So you know me just having trust, having faith in my coaches, my O-line, my quarterback, just having faith in everybody that’s on the field with me at the time that I'm running the ball. You know, that’s really what it’s all about to me.”

Wisner finished with a career-high 158 yards rushing on 26 attempts. He averaged 6.1 yards per attempt in what was easily his best game as a Longhorn. Blue also had 96 yards on 15 attempts, averaging 6.4 yards per clip himself.

It was a huge finish on a night when Texas had an eye-popping six fumbles and quarterback Quinn Ewers had ankle problems from a hip drop tackle.

“You know the thing about Tre, he wasn’t the most highly-recruited guy in that recruiting class, but all he’s done since the day he’s got here is work his tail off, be a great teammate, continue to pick other guys up and then stay the course.

“And so last year, he’s a true freshman. And what do we remember him for? Running down on kickoffs and as a gunner on punt team and doing the dirty work that nobody (likes). When you sign with University of Texas, you don’t think, man, I’m going to be a star on special teams as a freshman. But he took his role and he ran with it.

“Then all he did this off season was continue to work his tail off,” Sarkisian continued. “And the fact that we were able to lean on him today, knowing he’s probably one of the most team favorites in that locker room, those guys love him so much. I think that was the appreciation both ways, that he appreciated the opportunity, but his teammates appreciated him for the way he continues to work and then work tonight.”