Jones on a special visit to Houston

AUSTIN — Although sixth-year offensive lineman Christian Jones has played in 54 games for Texas, his grandmother has never been able to see him play a college game in person. That changes Saturday.

Jones, who played for Cypress Woods, will return to Houston this Saturday as the No. 8 Texas Longhorns face the Houston Cougars for the first time in two decades.

Even though the game is a throwback to the Southwestern Conference past, Jones is just excited that his grandmother, who he calls Grandma Joyce, will finally get to see him suit up for Texas in person.

“It's going to be the first game that my grandma's gonna see me play in college,” Jones said on Monday. “It's gonna be super, super exciting.”

While he's excited to see his family again, Jones is also ready to turn the page after the Oklahoma loss.

“(We've) got to take it as a lesson for sure,” he said. “And (we've) got to move forward. (Oklahoma's) a great team, a well-coached outfit. All we had to do was control what we could control and use that lesson of the loss to push us even further.”

One of the changes to the offensive line in the Oklahoma game was the loss of starting center Jake Majors, who was injured in the first half. Redshirt freshman and third-stringer Connor Robertson took his place.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian cited the unexpected change at center as one of the difficulties against Oklahoma.

“It's always difficult when you lose your center as early as we did,” Sarkisian said immediately after the game. “And I commend Connor Robertson for stepping in, (the) first time he was in real action like that.”

Sarkisian said on Monday that everyone is back to practicing, but there have been no further updates to Majors' status. However, Jones, an established leader in the locker room, is not too worried about who will be the starting center on Saturday.

“I don't think it affects us at all,” Jones said. “(Connor's) been working hard and he's been doing his thing. And we all have the utmost belief and faith in him … the rest of the line knows that we may have to pick up a bit of slack here and there, but that's just what a regular offensive line would do anyways.”

And with six regular season games left, Jones remains focused on postseason goals. If Texas wants a spot in the Big 12 title game, it will more than likely have to win out. Texas does not have any remaining opponents that are ranked, but Jones is making sure that he and his teammates continue to take every competitor seriously.

“It's not really (about) the school, the name,” Jones said. “I mean, it's the opponent. It's their tendencies, what they like to do, what they're good at, what they're not so good at. That type of approach from it. Keep the intensity every week.”