Texas DB Malik Muhammad injured in Big 12 Championship Game

Texas defensive back Malik Muhammad went down with an injury in the first quarter of the Big 12 Championship Game.

Up 14-0 at the time, Muhammad went down after an Ollie Gordon run on 1st-and-Goal for Oklahoma State from the six yard line. He was tended to, following the play, but was sitting up.

The freshman defensive back has been key to the Longhorns’ secondary this season. The Cowboys ended up scoring a couple of plays later to cut the lead 14-7.

Coming into the game, Muhammad 24 total tackles, 15 solo tackles, one interception and three pass deflection.

As a member of the Class of 2023, Muhammad was a four-star recruit out of Dallas (Texas) South Oak Cliff, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 8 overall prospect in the state, the No. 5 cornerback in the class and the No. 49 overall prospect in the class.

Steve Sarkisian explains what winning Big 12 means

In an appearance on SportsCenter before the Big 12 Championship Game, Steve Sarkisian emphasized how important winning the conference is for Texas.

“It would be awesome and we’ve been talking about it from the summer,” Sarkisian said. “When Texas got in the Big 12 in 1996, they won the conference championship they were there. They only won two more along the way and those other two years were ’05 and ’09 and those two years they went and played for a national championship.”

The Big 12 was founded in 1994, acting as a merger between the Big 8 and the Southwest Conference. The Longhorns were one of the four Southwest Conference teams to initially join before the conference eventually began play in 1996.

“So, we’re trying to get our fourth conference championship here in the last 27 years, and hopefully history can repeat itself,” Sarkisian concluded.

Going into this vital game, however, Texas dealt with injuries that left several key players listed as questionable.

“Just a little bit of an injury update. [Ryan] Watts and Austin Jordan will be questionable here for Saturday,” Sarkisian said. “Xavier [Worthy] will be good to go and Maalik Murphy practiced today as well. So, feel good about those two guys.”