Jonathon Brooks Holds Key For Texas In Alamo Bowl vs. Washington

A young weapon on the Longhorns' offense could be the difference-maker Saturday against the Huskies.

Want to imagine life without Bijan Robinson in Texas' backfield? Take a look back at a Week 12 road trip to Lawrence, Kan. for the answer. 

Robinson, the driving force of the Longhorns' offense, just crossed the goal line at Memorial Stadium for a 32-yard touchdown — his fourth of the evening a new personal best. The eventual Doak Walker grabbed his helmet following a 14-yard touchdown pass from KU's Jalon Daniels to Torry Locklin, but second-year coach Steve Sarkisian placed his hand before he could retake the turf.

Robinson's night was done. Sarkisian, whose list of running back prospects includes Bishop Sankey, Josh Jacobs, and Najee Harris, wasn't going to risk his star running back's chances of suffering an injury just before his career was officially about to begin. 

Instead, Sarkisian called on Jonathon Brooks to lead the way with 1:47 left in the third quarter. And boy did he ever, rushing for 108 yards and two touchdowns in a lopsided 55-14 win over the Jayhawks. 

That version of Brooks, or a least something close to it, will need to be the x-factor for the No. 20 Longhorns (8-4, 5-3 Big 12) when they face No. 12 Washington in the Alamo Bowl on Thursday night in San Antonio. 

“Brooksie, this is a guy who we had flashes of high hopes for last year,” Sarkisian said last month. “Had a shoulder injury at the end of last season, came back this year and went back to work."

Brooks wasn't a one-trick pony during his reps against the Jayhawks. There wasn't a set plan on how to contain the 202-pound bruiser with a combination of open-field tackling or stuffing him at the line of scrimmage. 

Take for instance Brooks' first drive. Slowly chipping away at the Jayhawks' defense, the freshman averaged 3.4 yards per carry and didn't record a run over five yards before punching in a 3-yard touchdown to extend Texas' lead by 42. 

The second drive? Try a 70-yard touchdown run on the third carry, mixed in with a bulldozing stiff arm at the line of scrimmage, followed by a breakaway juke to the outside marker for an easy six.

"He's deceptively fast. He’s more of a long-strider, he covers ground," running back Roschon Johnson said postgame. "He’s definitely a guy that just does things effortlessly, which is pretty hard to do at the running back position."

Robinson and Johnson are off to the NFL following their decision to declare for the NFL draft. Brooks will be used to the role of splitting reps with Keilan Robinson and Jaydon Blue, but the trio will be rotating with the first-team offense permanently for the first time this season. 

Make no mistake on Washington, either. The Huskies (10-2, 7-2 Pac-12) led the conference in fewest rushing yards per play (3.35 yards per game), and touchdowns (13). Meanwhile, the high-tempo offense orchestrated by NCAA passing leader Michael Penix Jr. can go toe-to-toe with most Big 12 defenses after averaging 40.2 points per game.

Perhaps a bit of solstice for the Longhorn faithful hoping for an upset in the Alamo City is the fact there's little tape on their leading rusher. This past fall, Brooks totaled 322 yards and five touchdowns on 45 carries. He also 7.2 yards per carry, and finished second in the Big 12 in yards after contact (5.79 yards per play). 

Most of what first-year Washington coach Kalen DeBoer will have to go off is Brooks' high school tape at Halletsville. In a sense, part of the praise for Robinson's decision to forgo his senior season came due to the success of Brooks' role with the Brahmas. 

In one year, Brooks likely learned more watching Robinson and Johnson from the sidelines than he did by taking reps. And the numbers would back it. In his first game, he amassed 32 yards. Against Oklahoma, the stat line improved to 39, and everyone knows what happened in the revenge game against the Fighting Lance Leipold.

"Every time he’s gotten an opportunity he’s shown up. I think our running back room is something that we should be proud of and look forward to seeing what it looks like in the future.”

No one is asking Brooks to be a clone of Robinson. No one should expect it. Despite the accolades and praise that will follow Robinson to the pros, Johnson was a factor in Texas' success down the stretch. Combined, the duo accounted for 2,134 of Texas' 2,395 rushing yards and 23 of its 28 rushing touchdowns in 2022. 

Brooks will have a chance to prove he's the future of the Longhorns' backfield. In 2020, Robinson did the same at the Alamodome, rushing for 183 yards and three touchdowns in a 55-23 win over Colorado. 

History has a funny way of repeating itself in similar locations. And while Brooks doesn't have to be the next Robinson, no one on the Forty Acres would care if it was a wash, rinse and repeat of the previous two seasons come 2023 and 2024. 

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