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Texas has found its starting five on the offensive line

by: Evan Vieth11/03/25
ut_vs_vanderbilt-0726_robertson_hutson
Connor Robertson (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

Calling Texas’ offensive line room a carousel this season wouldn’t do it justice.

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Between a series of injuries, expected starters losing spots in camp, and overall subpar play, it’s felt closer to a musical chairs game, specifically at the left guard position.

The Longhorns have been fairly set in stone with their tackles and right guard. Trevor Goosby has NFL talent, DJ Campbell is a former five-star and a veteran, and Brandon Baker has been serviceable: more on him later.

But what has really plagued this team is the interior opposite of Campbell, left guard and center. Three different players have started at LG this year, with another two options starting at center.

The LG spot was originally expected to be occupied by the athletic and formerly highly touted recruit Neto Umeozulu, but it ended up being redshirt sophomore Connor Stroh who took over at the position after camp. It’s been… up and down with Stroh. He’s had errors throughout the season, ultimately culminating in his benching against Florida.

That brought in true freshman Nick Brooks, an Iowa native who was recruited to play tackle in Austin. Instead, Brooks found himself thrown in at LG against the Gators, getting utterly manhandled in pass protection. He stepped up against Oklahoma, but he struggled at times against Kentucky and Mississippi State, where he was eventually taken out for Stroh.

At center, it was Cole Hutson, but injuries have given Connor Robertson the chance to start in three separate games. When Hutson was taken off the injury report ahead of Texas’ matchup against Vanderbilt, it was assumed he’d return to center.

Not so fast.

Sarkisian instead opted for a new unit, one with Hutson at left guard and Robertson at center.

It worked wonders.

The duo helped lead Texas’ offense to its best game yet, one where Arch Manning wasn’t sacked once. Quintrevion Wisner’s two-yard loss in the third quarter was the only time Texas was tackled behind the line of scrimmage. He’d rush for 18 more yards on the next two plays.

What’s interesting about the pair of Hutson and Robertson starting together is they go way back in this Texas team. They joined the program as part of the ’22 class with Campbell, growing together mostly as reserves in this line. Now four years into the program, the experience the two brought proved important on Saturday.

“I don’t know if that’s the most physically gifted group of an offensive line that we can put out there, but surely they play well together and that showed up Saturday in the performance of the team,” Sarkisian said.

It’s true. Neither has the 6’7″ stature of Brooks or the elite traits of Umeozulu, but they’re both solid. They played hard. One of our readers asked about doing a ‘culture player of the week’ for the team. Most people would agree with one of the commenters: Robertson would be near the top of the list. Hutson was also able to move to his more natural position, guard, one he’s played in Austin for three years prior. Though there was some confidence in Hutson to be an effective center in 2025, it’s clear that the guard position is more suited to his skillset.

This also allowed the rest of the line to play well. It was clear that, even with a lack of athletic talent, the team was much more assignment-sound. Stunts weren’t hitting with as much effectiveness, and run plays consistently gained four or more yards.

This new unit has also allowed Brandon Baker to shine.

He struggled early in the year, but this was arguably his best game as a Longhorn. The emphasis from defenses to attack the middle of the line has played into his strengths. He’s a talented one-on-one blocker. He manages large areas of space well. Where he’s struggled is against complicated rush fits and working in tandem with Campbell in the run game, but those are acceptable downsides for a younger player.

What’s important is that Texas no longer has to worry about an issue that’s plagued this team all season: finding an acceptable unit to protect Manning.

It’s clear now that Texas has its best five. Whether that means they’ll be able to be even an average SEC line is yet to be seen, but this couldn’t have come at a better time. Texas just used this group to beat a top-ten Vanderbilt, and they’ll need all the help they can get to take down Georgia in two weeks.

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