Texas WR Isaiah Bond Suffers Injury vs. Oklahoma

Texas Longhorns receiver Isaiah Bond suffered an injury against the Oklahoma Sooners.

Texas Longhorns wide receiver Isaiah Bond (7) runs the ball forward as the Texas Longhorns take on Mississippi State at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. / Mikala Compton/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

DALLAS -- The Texas Longhorns entered Saturday's Red River Rivalry against the Oklahoma Sooners looking healthier than in weeks past, but the injury bug bit them in the first half.

Texas receiver Isaiah Bond limped off the field in the second quarter after getting hit hard in the back on a high throw from Quinn Ewers. He spent several minutes in the medical tent before eventually emerging with his helmet off and was not on the field during the three offensive drives afterwards. He was eventually taken back to the locker room as the Longhorns headed into halftime with a 21-3 lead. It's unclear what injury he is dealing with.

Fortunately for Texas, Bond's agency representation said that he's out for the rest of the game but that the injury is "nothing major."

Bond entered the game leading the team in catches (20) and receiving yards (364) while adding four total touchdowns.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian has praised Bond's speed and ability to break open a big play at any given moment.

"He's fast. He's definitely fast," Sarkisian said. "Everybody's got their own redeeming quality. And probably at the top of his list from a redeeming quality is he has elite speed. ... For us, he's made some big-time catches, some big-time plays. He's starting to become one of those guys. He catches a curl route, you hold your breath because he might spin out and go."

According to Sarkisian, Bond's adjustment to the Texas offense has been smoother due to some of the similarities that Alabama's offense maintained the past few seasons. 

"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."