CJ Baxter injury update: Texas reveals RB's status vs. Kentucky on Wednesday availability report

Saturday marks just the third-ever matchup between the Kentucky Wildcats and Texas Longhorns. The previous two took place in Austin, including last year’s 31-14 win for Steve Sakrisian‘s club. Now, they travel to Lexington for the first time in program history.

Kentucky comes into this one off a bye week. Some extra time to prepare took place after a rough start to SEC play, dropping their first three conference games of the season. Mark Stoops continues to face some pressure from the fanbase, needing a big win to quiet some of the noise.

As for Texas, they are fresh off a massive Red River Shootout victory vs. the Oklahoma Sooners. One the Longhorns desperately needed, the Golden Hat remains on the 40 Acres for at least another season. Now, the goal is to find a way to maintain the success.

Both teams are, unfortunately, dealing with some injuries coming in. Wednesday brought the first injury report of the week, listing several players. You can check out the full release here.

Kentucky Wildcats

• WR Aaron Butler – Out
• LB Jonathan Cunningham – Out
• OL Cole Hutson – Out
• RB CJ Baxter – Doubtful
• DB Xaiver Filsaime – Questionable
• OL Connor Stroh – Questionable
• DL Maraad Watson – Questionable

Texas Longhorns

• RB Jamarion Wilcox – Out
• OLB Jacob Smith – Out
• DB Nasir Addison – Out
• ILB Devin Smith – Out
• DL Nic Smith – Out
• WR David Washington Jr. – Out
• TE Elijah Brown – Out
• WR Troy Stellato – Questionable
• OL Aba Selm – Questionable
• DB Jaden Smith – Probable

Steve Sarkisian continues to advocate for five-for-five eligibility

Two players left the Texas program on Tuesday. Running back Jerrick Gibson and kicker Will Stone plan to maintain a redshirt and eventually enter the NCAA transfer portal. A circumstance we are seeing more across college football, Sarkisian spoke on the topic of eligibility at the SEC Coaches Teleconference. He once again banged the drum for giving players five years across the board.

“I’ve been an advocate for five-for-five, I’ve said it all along. I think it’s a terrible position to put these players in to make these decisions right now. There’s money involved, there’s revenue-sharing, there’s NIL, there’s different factors, and I think it’s putting agents and family members and student-athletes in a difficult positions to make business decisions in the middle of the season.

“But that’s where we’re at, so I’m not here to complain about, that’s just the reality of the situation we’re in. So when a player asked to do that, I think them for their time and wish them the best of luck. What else are we supposed to do at that juncture? These are the rules that we put in place, so we’ve got to operate within the parameters of the rules.”