'Nothing Structural' for Longhorns DB Ryan Watts After Injury

Longhorns star defensive back Ryan Watts was forced to leave the game against Iowa State with an injury, but it was good news.

AUSTIN - The Texas Longhorns suffered a big loss to their defense in the first half against the Iowa State Cyclones on Saturday. 

With 13 minutes left in the second quarter, first-year transfer defensive back Ryan Watts was forced to leave the game with a lower-body injury, and immediately went to the medical tent for evaluation. 

Watts was able to walk off the field under his own power but did so gingerly.

Watts was then escorted back to the locker room for further testing, and he did not return to the game.

Before leaving the game, Watts was leading the team in tackles by a wide margin, with seven total stops. 

In place of Watts, true freshman Terrance Brooks has entered the game. 

At the time of the injury, the Longhorns also trailed 7-0, with the Cyclones driving and attempting to go up by two scores. 

The Longhorns would eventually gut out the win without Watts, 24-21.

Following the game, Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian gave an update on Watts, giving good news for the transfer. 

"All three guys that went down today, they were all stinger-related," Sarkisian said. "Watts's tests all came back negative. He's day to day." 


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Matt Galatzan
MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.