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Steve Sarkisian provides update on Cole Hutson, praise for Connor Robertson

by: RT Young10/16/25
Connor Robertson, Cole Hutson
Connor Robertson, Cole Hutson (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

Before the road game at Kentucky, Steve Sarkisian provided an update on center Cole Hutson during Thursday’s media Zoom. The senior will miss Saturday’s game against the Wildcats. However, the Longhorns coach was quick to praise Hutson’s replacement, junior center Connor Robertson.

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Sarkisian didn’t disclose the nature of Hutson’s injury, only saying it wasn’t “season ending” and that “hopefully he’ll be back sooner rather than later.”

“He’ll be out,” Sarkisian said of Hutson. “Time will tell. We have another player on the team who has a very similar injury who bounced back quicker than we anticipated. Hopefully he’s not out very long.”

As for Robertson, the Longhorns are fortunate to have a backup center with plenty of experience in the program and strong chemistry with quarterback Arch Manning.

“I think one thing Connor has is he has really good rapport with Arch, they’re very close,” Sarkisian said. “There’s some connectivity there, which is important with the quarterback in the system. He’s been in the system. There’s not a look or a call that he can’t make to get everybody on the same page. You talk about continuity, it’s not like we’re throwing a new guy in there at center. This guy has been in the program. He knows all the calls, so we’re very comfortable with him that way.”

Robertson was a member of Sarkisian and Kyle Flood’s historic 2022 recruiting class alongside Hutson, DJ Campbell and Kelvin Banks. During his time in Austin, Robertson has appeared in 23 games and made one start earlier this season in Texas’ 55–0 win over Sam Houston State. He has 320 career snaps, all at the center position, 89 coming so far in 2025. However, his most notorious action came in 2023, when he filled in for an injured Jake Majors during the Red River Rivalry loss to Oklahoma.

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The offensive line has been Texas’ weakest position group this season, but is coming off an excellent performance in the 23–6 win over Oklahoma last week in the Cotton Bowl. Still, praise in the SEC is short-lived. Texas must do it again in the trenches this weekend to improve to 2-1 in conference. Robertson is tasked with protecting Manning and leading the line against a strong Kentucky front on the road in Lexington.

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