Steve Sarkisian shares injury updates on Texas WR Isaiah Bond

DALLAS – The No. 1 Texas Longhorns lost arguably their best offensive playmaker to injury in Saturday’s 34-3 win over the No. 18 Oklahoma Sooners in the Cotton Bowl.

Texas receiver Isaiah Bond left in the second quarter and never returned to the game after being hit hard in the back on an overthrown pass from Quinn Ewers. He limped off the field and remained in the medical tent for several minutes before heading back to the locker room.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said Bond suffered an ankle injury that re-aggravated during the game.

“Isaiah suffered an ankle injury,” Sarksian said. “He did it early on and he aggravated it later in the game so we just couldn’t keep up. That’s why we’ll continue to keep an eye on him.”

Bond finished the game with just one catch for five yards. With 20 catches and 364 receiving yards as well as a total of four touchdowns, he entered the competition as the team’s best receiver.

On Texas’ second drive, he had a supposed touchdown after being wide open in the middle of the field, but Quinn Ewers deflected the throw and the ball fell incomplete.

Even with Bond out in the second half, the Longhorns’ offense didn’t let up for a second, even though it started slowly. Texas was led by Gunnar Helm, who finished the game with five catches for a game-high 91 yards and a touchdown. Ryan Wingo added two grabs for 49 yards while DeAndre Moore Jr. had three catches for 25 yards.

The Longhorns need Bond to be at full health before facing the Georgia Bulldogs next week. Bond said before the Red River Rivalry that he was “made for big games,” and the matchup against UGA certainly qualifies for that.

“I’ve heard a lot of great things from the players on the team and from close friends of mine, and they just told me that this is basically like the Iron Bowl, where I’m from, my previous team,” Bond said of Red River. “They say it could be an even bigger game. I’m built for big games, so I love playing a big game, so it’ll be a fun time.”

Texas and Georgia kick off in Austin on October 19th at 6:30 p.m. CT.