Quintrevion Wisner of the Texas Longhorns shines in a larger role

Quintrevion Wisner is starting to establish himself as the Texas Longhorns’ premier running back, but based on his play, one would assume he’s a seasoned veteran.

Wisner saw more playing time in the Sept. 28 win over Mississippi State when fellow running back Jaydon Blue fumbled twice, but it was his performance Saturday against arch-rival Oklahoma that really turned heads. The sophomore rushed for 118 yards and a touchdown while averaging 9.3 yards per carry in a 34-3 win. His personal highlight of the day came late in the second quarter when he burst through the seam and fended off would-be tacklers for a 43-yard touchdown.

It wasn’t necessarily the plan to rely so heavily on Wisner, but having the hot hand is rarely a bad idea.

“The plan for me today was just to show up whenever my number was called,” Wisner said after the game, according to the Austin American-Statesman. “And do what I did today.”

With star back CJ Baxter out for the season, the Longhorns have essentially relied on a running back-by-committee approach. Wisner, Blue and freshman Jerrick Gibson all saw a lot of action and were all quite effective. Of that trio, however, Wisner is averaging 6.2 yards per carry this season, compared to Blue’s 4.4 and Gibson’s 4.7.

Still, this is a very deep backfield, and the Longhorns want to utilize that depth as much as possible.

“On our team, it’s often difficult to tell the difference between our ones and our twos,” said head coach Steve Sarkisian. “It’s really difficult. Therefore I would argue that they are the same. The running back position isn’t much different than the safety position or the linebacker position or the quarterback position.”

Texas has its biggest game of the regular season next week against No. 5 Georgia, and whoever leads the team in that contest could gain an advantage moving forward.