Two Texas Longhorns RBs Named Candidates for Comeback Player of the Year

Per its website, since 2018, the Comeback Player of the Year Award "has recognized college football student-athletes for overcoming injury, illness, or other circumstances. The honorees are selected in a vote by a panel of AP writers, editors, college sports information directors, and Fiesta Bowl Organization representatives."

Each year, three players are honored with the award, and the winners are announced at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl game. In the last three years, at least one running back has been named. No Texas Longhorn has ever won.

Baxter and Clark being on the watchlist is an acknowledgment of the buildup surrounding their returns.

Baxter was an important piece for the Longhorns when he was a freshman in 2023, accumulating 659 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. Baxter took over as the starter for the injured Jonathan Brooks down the stretch, contributing 103 total yards and a touchdown to the College Football Playoff semifinal against Washington.

Expected to be the No. 1 out of the backfield in 2024, Baxter's knee injury left Jaydon Blue and Quintrevion Wisner as the top two options in the backfield. With Blue now in the NFL, Wisner and Baxter will be the primary one-two punch for Texas in 2025. As fall camp got underway, head coach Steve Sarkisian reflected on Baxter's road to recovery last season:

"The attitude that [Baxter] embraced to come back from that injury, all season long," Sarkisian said. "That dude was on our sideline, was with us at every game, traveled to every game, he was in huddles, he was picking his teammates up. He addressed the offense last night in the offensive meeting about the energy that was needed at practice, and the focus they needed to have."

While Baxter will be a familiar face for Longhorn fans, Clark will be putting on the burnt orange for the first time in the regular season. A four-star in the 247Sports Composite out of Arizona, Clark was an early enrollee at Texas in January 2024. But the Achilles tear in fall camp ended his season abruptly before it could even begin. Sarkisian has been excited about the promise Clark is bringing to the running back corps:

"He's got great balance and body control, he's got a really strong lower half and natural runner ability, and that's a hard thing to describe, but some of the things that runners do are very natural to him," Sarkisian said early in fall camp. "The one cut ability, the contact balance, he's got very good hands out of the back field. So encouraged by him, I was encouraged in spring, and I am more encouraged today."

The Texas coaching staff can be expected to ease both Baxter and Clark back into game physicality after the injury setbacks they have undergone. The Longhorns open their season against the Ohio State Buckeyes a week from today.