Texas Longhorns WR Isaiah Bond Injury Update vs. Georgia Bulldogs

Texas Longhorns receiver Isaiah Bond suffered an injury against the Oklahoma Sooners and never returned.

Sep 21, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns wide receiver Isaiah Bond (7) looks over in the second half against the Louisiana Monroe Warhawks at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images / Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

AUSTIN -- Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian revealed some notable injury news when meeting with the media Monday ahead of Saturday's monstrous matchup against the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs.

Sarkisian said that safety Derek Williams Jr. will have season-ending surgery after suffering an undisclosed injury in the 34-3 win over the Oklahoma Sooners. While that news certainly hurts for the Texas defense to hear, the offense received a positive update.

Sarkisian revealed that receiver Isaiah Bond is "day-to-day" after leaving the OU game in the first half with an ankle injury. He spent several minutes in the medical tent and eventually went back to the locker room but never returned after finishing with just one catch for five yards.

"Isaiah, I feel better about today than I felt Saturday when he couldn't finish the ball game," Sarkisian said. "So I'm optimistic, but like I said, he'll be day to day. We'll see how it looks as we get kind of into Wednesday, Thursday."

Despite exiting early, Bond still leads the Longhorns in receiving yards (369) and is tied for the team lead in catches (21) with tight end Gunnar Helm through the first six games. The Alabama transfer has caught three touchdowns through the air and has two carries for 51 yards and another score on the ground.

Sarkisian has said previously that Bond's adjustment to the offense has been expedited due to some of the similarities between Texas' and Alabama's scheme.

"I think what's helped him in coming here was having spent his time at Alabama -- even though I didn't coach IB at Alabama -- I think they kept a lot of some of the things that we did," Sarkisian said. "And so when he came here, the transition for him to integrate himself into the offense and feel comfortable in the offense was probably a little easier for him than maybe a Matthew Golden or a Silas Bolden, just coming from from other places. And so it kind of sped up his process. He makes plays in critical moments. I'll say this. you look at his career at Bama, everybody knows about the fourth-down catch at Auburn. I think just our players, our quarterback, seeing that on TV automatically gave him a little bit of a head start. Like, this guy can make a play when you got to have it, and he hasn't disappointed in that way for us."

No. 1 Texas and No. 5 Georgia will kick off from Austin on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT.