Hollywood Smothers is the runner Texas may have to plan around without knowing whether it can plan on him. Derrek Cooper is the freshman Texas may be able to use without knowing how much work he will receive.
That is the shape of the Longhorns’ backfield after Thursday’s SEC availability report, and it is hardly the tidy answer a 4-2 team would want before facing No. 7 Ole Miss.
Smothers moved from questionable to doubtful on the new report. Cooper is probable. The contrast matters without selecting a starter: Texas has greater uncertainty around its leading rusher, while a freshman back remains a possibility for Saturday’s workload.
Smothers leads Texas with 289 rushing yards. His downgrade makes his status more precarious, not officially settled. He could still play, perhaps with an uncertain workload, or he could be unavailable altogether. Texas has not announced a snap distribution or carry plan, so the report creates a planning problem rather than naming its solution.
Cooper’s listing provides a possible answer without guaranteeing one. The freshman is probable, but no announcement makes him the starter, assigns him Smothers’ usual responsibilities or promises that he will receive a significant share of the carries. Treating the designation as a promotion would turn an availability update into a depth-chart decision Texas has not made.
The bigger concern is sitting in plain numerical view. Through six games, Texas has gained 810 yards on 224 rushing attempts, an average of 3.6 yards per carry. The Longhorns are producing 135.0 net rushing yards per game. A change in the ball carrier could help one afternoon, but those figures describe a ground game whose output is larger than one back’s status.
Smothers’ team-leading total makes the personnel issue important while also showing why it cannot carry the whole explanation. His 289 yards account for a little more than a third of Texas’ rushing yardage. If he is limited or unavailable, Cooper and the other backs may have to divide work that normally would be organized around the leading rusher.
That changes the distribution of opportunities. It does not automatically improve the result of each opportunity.
The recent scores add urgency without assigning blame. Texas lost 27-24 to Oklahoma on Oct. 10 and 27-24 to Florida on Oct. 17. In games decided by three points, more productive rushing could make a valuable difference across a small number of possessions.
But neither result identifies Smothers as the cause of the broader problem. A backfield change may be necessary for Saturday; it has not been proven sufficient for the season’s rushing arithmetic.
