CJ Baxter injury update: Kentucky, Texas reveal status of key players on Friday report

On Saturday, No. 21 Texas and Kentucky will square off at 7:00 p.m. ET in Lexington. It will mark the Longhorns’ third conference game of the season, while this will mark SEC game No. 4 for the Wildcats. Texas is coming off a dominant 23-6 win over No. 6 Oklahoma in the ‘Red River Rivalry’, while Kentucky has dropped all three of its SEC games this season (No. 20 Ole Miss, South Carolina and No. 12 Georgia).

This meeting will mark the third ever clash between the two programs. Last season, No. 3 Texas held off Kentucky 31-14 in Austin. Dating back to the beginning of last season, the Longhorns are 8-2 against SEC competition. Things have been much worse for the Wildcats, as they are 1-10 against conference opponents in that span with their lone win coming on the road against No. 6 Ole Miss last season.

Heading into that matchup, both teams are dealing with injuries. For both teams’ updated Friday night availability reports, look below.

Kentucky Wildcats

• DB Nasir Addison – OUT
• TE Elijah Brown – OUT
• ILB Devin Smith – OUT
• OLB Jacob Smith – OUT
• DL Nic Smith – OUT
• WR David Washington Jr. – OUT
• RB Jamarion Wilcox – OUT

No. 21 Texas Longhorns

• RB CJ Baxter – OUT
• WR Aaron Butler – OUT
• DB Xaiver Filsaime – OUT
• OL Cole Hutson – OUT
• OL Connor Stroh – OUT
• DL Maraad Watson – QUESTIONABLE

Texas sophomore running back CJ Baxter, who missed the entirety of the 2024 season, will likely miss this weekend’s game against Kentucky as he continues to deal with a hamstring injury. He suffered the injury on the first play of the game in Texas‘ 27-10 win over UTEP on Sept. 13.

“On an injury note, obviously Cedric got hurt the first play of the game,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said during the Monday press conference following that game. “Hamstring injury. We don’t think it’s overly significant, but he’ll be out this week from a precautionary standpoint to hopefully get him ready for SEC play.”

He was originally shooting to return for the Florida game (per On3’s Pete Nakos), but that obviously was not the case. In three games this season, Baxter rushed for 110 yards on 24 carries.

Meanwhile, Kentucky will get a major piece back this week in junior defensive back DJ Waller. Waller, who has not played since the Wildcats’ season-opener against Toledo, was not listed on this week’s availability report. Last season, the Michigan transfer recorded 13 tackles and two pass deflections.

“Hopefully we’ll get DJ Waller back,” Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops said during this week’s edition of ‘The Mark Stoops Show‘. “That’s one of our big guys that has some great length at corner. Hopefully he’ll be back at full strength, he was out there today. He looks good.“

Texas looks to turn its ‘Red River’ win into another W, while Kentucky attempts to win its first SEC home game since Sept. 30, 2023 (No. 22 Florida). Kick-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM ET. The game can be seen on ESPN.