With key pair out, Horns look to fill leadership void

Injuries have cost offense experience at crucial positions.

When Texas hosts Kansas State on Saturday, an offense averaging 34.5 points per game will attempt to answer some questions.

First off, who is going to run the ball for the Longhorns?

Will Collin Johnson find more targets after last week’s two-catch game against Iowa State?

Can the offensive line get the job done with freshman Derek Kerstetter and senior Tristan Nickelson at the tackle positions?

And this also wouldn’t be a story about the Texas offense if someone didn’t ask something about the quarterbacks.

There is one additional question that won’t be answered by statistics: Who’s providing an on-field voice for the Longhorns?

Of the four team captains voted upon by players, only one — junior left tackle Connor Williams — was an offensive player. Williams, however, suffered a knee injury in the loss to USC and didn’t make last week’s trip to Iowa State. He was replaced at the pregame coin toss in Ames by senior tight end Andrew Beck, who was lost for the season before the opener with a fractured foot.

Offensive coordinator Tim Beck said the offense will lean on veteran linemen Patrick Vahe, Jake McMillon and Nickelson for leadership. Beck also mentioned receivers Armanti Foreman and Dorian Leonard, though the two seniors aren’t always on the field since they’re part of a rotation. And quarterbacks Shane Buechele and Sam Ehlinger will have to step up, Beck said.

“Shane has to continue to do that, or if Sam’s playing, then Sam has to do it,” he said. “Whoever that QB is, that’s part of the leadership role he possesses; he’s got to be able to do that.”

Texas is hopeful that Williams will return this season. Until then, he’s apparently found a different way to lead. Johnson said last month that Williams “still has a responsibility to lead.” The receiver added that Williams, a 6-foot6, 315-pound All-American, was being encouraging while attending team workouts, practices and film sessions.

“Talking with Connor, nothing’s changed,” Vahe said. “The same expectation that he had for the rest of the team, he still wants that same expectation now. The only thing is that I’m trying to make sure that I help him out as well, keep his head up.” field at Jack Trice Stadium while carrying the American flag. He caught a pass and helped the Longhorns clinch a Big 12 victory.

“Doing a lot better. It was a tough week last week,” Joe said earlier this week. “Getting a lot of messages from people, phone calls, and you’ve got to stay strong. That’s about it. We’re all doing well. Just got to keep moving and stay strong.”

We all deal with grief in different ways. For Joe to stick with his teammates and play speaks volumes about the family-first environment Herman is cultivating inside the football program.

“We’re going to rally around him and give him all the love and support that we can,” Herman said two days before Texas faced the Cyclones.

The Longhorns certainly did. Punter Michael Dickson left his class to console Joe when that call came.

“I just wanted to be there physically with him, because I knew it was something pretty serious,” Dickson said. “There’s not much you can do other than physically be there, put your arm around him and hug him. There’s not much you can say in a situation like that.”

Joe said his younger sister played in a high school volleyball game that Tuesday night. That’s what Brayden would want, Joe said. The scheduling worked out for both. Joe and the Longhorns played Thursday, and he was able to get back to Abilene for the funeral Saturday.

The family had a simple request in Brayden’s obituary. “In lieu of flowers, Brayden would want people to pay it forward — i.e. give a waiter or waitress a bigger tip, take in a stray animal, or to go out of your way to help someone else in a way that would make their day a little better. Just be nice!” the obituary read.

Joe said football was an escape of sorts. “After the game, that’s when you deal with real life again,” he said.

Joe didn’t want to get into the details of Brayden’s death but admitted that’s who he was thinking about as he ran onto the field.

“It was awesome. I’ve never done that before,” Joe said. “They said, ‘Hey, get out there and lead the team out.’ It was emotional, especially after losing a family member. I was kind of tearing up, but it was awesome to lead the team out there and to get a win.”

Joe hasn’t been a boldfaced name on the flip card during his time at UT. In four seasons, he’s caught only one touchdown pass — a 21-yarder against TCU in 2015 that kept Texas from getting shut out. The Horned Frogs won 50-7. “Scoring a touchdown is always great, but that was a loss,” he said.

His best moment as a Longhorn actually came on a play the following week against 10th-ranked Oklahoma. The Sooners were supposed to have an easy time against Texas, which was 1-4 in Charlie Strong’s second season.

On first-and-10 from the OU 24, Jerrod Heard threw a quick pass to Marcus Johnson, who went racing toward the sideline. He broke several tackles, and Joe threw a critical block at the last second that allowed him to score an eye-popping touchdown.

That score gave Texas an early 7-0 lead and brought those in the north end zone to a fever pitch. Texas came to play that day, and the Longhorns captured a 24-17 upset win.

“That was actually one of my biggest moments in biggest games that I felt was kind of cool,” Joe said.

There was Joe, refusing to let his teammates down. Refusing to let his Longhorn family members down.

Thus, nobody should have been surprised nearly two years later when he stayed to practice despite losing his brother. Brayden would’ve been OK with that.

“I guess it just makes you appreciate him even more,” Dickson said. “We saw him at practice that same day. He wanted to do it for his brother. Just seeing that says a lot about his character.”