Has Quintrevion Wisner Closed Door on Texas Longhorns RB1 Debate?

The Texas Longhorns leaned on Quintrevion Wisner and the run game to close out the Kentucky Wildcats.

Texas Longhorns running back Quintrevion Wisner (26) reacts after scoring a touchdown during the Longhorns' game against the Florida Gators, Nov. 9, 2024 at Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin. / Mikala Compton/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

AUSTIN -- The Texas Longhorns took down the Kentucky Wildcats 31-14 in Austin Saturday to win their regular-season home finale, but the victory was hardly without its fair share of hiccups for head coach Steve Sarkisian's guys.

Despite rushing for a season-high 250 yards as a team, the Longhorns committed six fumbles and lost two, one of which was returned for a touchdown after Quinn Ewers was stripped in the pocket. This capped off an offensive sequence where the Longhorns fumbled three times in four plays, losing two of those fumbles.

Amid the chaos, Quintrevion Wisner helped steady the ship and methodically finished with 26 carries for a career-high 158 yards and a touchdown. Down 24-14 in the fourth quarter, Kentucky still had life before Wisner slowing crushed their hopes by rushing 11 times for 62 yards and a one-yard touchdown on a 15-play, all-run possession that chewed up 8:22 of game clock.

Did he unofficially lock up the no-doubt starting job in the process? Let Steve Sarkisian's postgame comments be the unofficial judge.

"I'm gonna brag on this guy for a minute," Sarkisian said of Wisner. "He might be the toughest guy on our team. He is cut from, I mean, a brillo pad. He is so tough, but at the same time, he's one of the best teammates on our team, and the respect he has in that locker room because of the work ethic he brings every day, the energy he brings every day, the ability to pick others up on our team every single day, all on the same time of him working on his craft."

The Longhorns have leaned on a committee approach for most of the year but with the most crucial stretch of the season ahead, it's clear that Wisner is the top option for Texas, something Jaydon Blue might have unintentionally solidified when he lost the fifth fumble of his career in the third quarter Saturday. Wisner doesn't fly off the screen cause of blazing speed or impressive ankle-breaking ability like Blue but he continues to prove capable of wearing the defense down behind Texas' veteran o-line, doing so without fumbling. Wisner's only fumble of the season was recovered by Silas Bolden in the end zone against Oklahoma. That game marked Wisner's coming-out party after Blue's two-fumble game vs. Mississippi State and he's continued to impress since then.

Sarkisian won't necessarily name Wisner the RB1, and he doesn't have to. It's clear that Blue still adds a dynamic element to the backfield that will take the Texas offense a long way. But when hearing the way Sarkisian talked about Wisner after the win, it feels clear who the alpha is at running back headed into December. He's developed a next-level reputation in just his second season with the program and is now suddenly one of the team's most important players a year removed from playing most on special teams.

"All he does every day is come to work, and when opportunities presented itself to him last year on special teams, all he did was run down on kickoff and try to hit something, and that's just the way he continued to play, and that's how he earned our trust, was his willingness to do the little things the right way, because it always mattered to him," Sarkisian said. "And so when you get in a game like this, when you got to lean on somebody, you want to lean on the guy that you can really trust, and he's definitely earned that from us."

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