Texas Longhorns announce they will be without two key playmakers vs. Kansas State

The Texas Longhorns will be without two key contributors on Friday against Kansas State. Per Anwar Richardson of Rivals, Texas has announced that linebacker DeMarvion Overshown (foot) and quarterback Hudson Card (ankle) will both be out for the season finale. Ben Ballard will back up Casey Thompson at quarterback.

Losing Overshown will be a big loss for the Texas defense against Kansas State. He leads the team with 72 total tackles, which is also the fifth most in the Big 12. Overshown was a game-time decision last week against Kansas, but he will not be able to go on Friday.

Card initially won the Texas starting quarterback job to open the year before being replaced by Thompson. He has completed 51 of his 83 passes this season for 590 yards, five touchdowns and one interception, along with one rushing touchdown. Card saw some significant action last week against West Virginia. He completed 10 of his 16 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown, which is his best game yardage-wise since Week 1.

While Thompson has put up big numbers at time, he has also struggled with inconsistency. Entering next season, Sarkisian plans to open the quarterback job back up.

“We have to open that job up. We have to let those guys compete,” he said in his weekly press conference.

Texas is not bowl eligible, meaning the Kansas State game is the end of the season

The Longhorns started the season 4-1 but have since lost six consecutive games. With a 4-7 record, one game left to play, and six wins being necessary to reach bowl eligibility, Friday’s matchup with Kansas State (7-4) will be the last game of the season for Texas. This will be the first season since 2016, the last year of the Charlie Strong era, where Texas is not bowl eligible.

The story of the season has been blown leads and a struggling defense. Despite not having a bowl game to play for, Sarkisian still wants Texas to finish strong against Kansas State.

“So as bad as it looks, because you are what your record says you are, I wanted to make sure our players understood that we are still really close,” Sarkisian said. “And let’s not lose sight of that.

“Ideally, we would really like to play well on Friday and one, send a message to ourselves of what we are capable of.”

Friday’s kickoff between Texas and Kansas State is set for 12 noon ET.