Elliott status up in air
Jefferson continues to recover from stomach virus.
Despite picking off two passes against Kansas, Texas freshman safety DeShon Elliott is not assured of continued playing time.
On Monday, Longhorns coach Charlie Strong was noncommittal about his plans for Elliott for the rest of the season.
“It just depends on the flow of the game,” Strong said.
Playing for the first time on defense, Elliott intercepted two passes in the fourth quarter and contributed three tackles to Texas’ 59-20 victory.
Elliott, a four-star member of this year’s freshman class, missed the first five games of the season because of a fluke foot injury he sustained during a “Bull in the Ring” drill in preseason. Elliott was a bystander, not a participant, in the drill.
The former Rockwall-Heath standout made his debut on special teams against Oklahoma but had not worked his way into the defensive rotation until Saturday, when he and freshman P.J. Locke took turns playing alongside starters Jason Hall and Dylan Haines.
“Unbelievable performance by him,” Haines said. “He’s going to continue to get better and better.”
Jefferson recovering: Strong doesn’t appear to be too concerned about Malik Jefferson’s ongoing stomach virus.
“Malik’s fine,” Jefferson said. “He’ll be OK.”
The illness kept Jefferson out of the starting lineup the past two weeks. The plan against Kansas was for him to sit out the entire game unless an emergency situation arose. Sirens went off with the game in doubt in the second quarter, and Jefferson played the rest of the way.
He finished with three tackles.
Strong also gave a good prognosis on running back Chris Warren and H-back Alex De La Torre, who are expected to play this week at West Virginia after sitting out the Kansas game because of minor injuries.
Baylor kickoff announced: Texas’ season finale at Baylor on Dec. 5 will kick off at 11 a.m. and be shown on ABC or ESPN, the Big 12 office announced. With that, all regular-season game times have been announced for UT. Saturday’s meeting at West Virginia will kick off at 11 a.m., and the Longhorns will face Texas Tech at 6:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving.