Jalen Catalon will not play vs. Kansas State, per Steve Sarkisian

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian provided a crucial update regarding one of the most impactful players in the Longhorns secondary on Thursday.

After missing the last two games with an injury, Sarkisian shared that defensive back Jalen Catalon did return to practice for the Longhorns on Thursday and unfortunately will not be available to play this Saturday as Texas hosts No. 23 Kansas State.

“We need him down the stretch,” Sarkisian said.

Catalon joined the Longhorns this offseason through the transfer portal after spending the first four seasons of his collegiate career at Arkansas. He’s recorded 15 tackles and a forced fumble in his five game appearances for Texas this season.

Catalon suffered an injury to his leg in the second half of the Red River Rivalry game against Oklahoma that will now force him to miss his third straight game of the season. But unfortunately, he is no stranger to injuries limiting his playing time.

In his last two seasons at Arkansas Catalon was only able to record stats in seven games, as numerous injuries sidelined including one that only allowed him to see action in the Razorbacks’ season opener in 2022.

The former four-star prospect from Mansfield Legacy High School in Texas was ranked the No. 28 safety in the country for his 2019 recruiting class according to On3’s Industry Ranking, and has recorded 174 tackles, five interceptions, and four forced fumbles throughout his collegiate career.

Catalon is a hard-hitting, instinctive safety who started the first four games of the season for the Longhorns alongside Jerrin Thompson. But as the Longhorns look to keep him healthy for the home stretch of the season, they’ll have to continue relying on players like Thompson, Michael Taaffe, Kitan Crawford, and Derek Williams in the secondary.

Steve Sarkisian says Texas’ victory over Alabama is ‘the best win in the country right now’

According to Inside Texas, when speaking to the media this week following his team’s 35-6 home beatdown of BYU, Sarkisian staked the claim that Texas has the best win in the country. That win: a 10-point victory in Tuscaloosa over Alabama — an accomplishment that belongs solely to the Longhorns in the entire 2020s decade so far.

“I’d argue we have the best win in the country right now,” said Sarkisian. “The fact that we went into Tuscaloosa, Alabama and beat a team that was 52-1 in the previous 53 games going in there.”

Sarkisian even dogged Texas’ future league, the SEC, a little bit, noting that no team in that conference has been able to overcome Alabama on the road or at home. Meanwhile, his team did it and even won by two possessions.

“I hear so much about how tough the SEC is, but I haven’t seen any of those teams go into Alabama and win either.”

On3’s Alex Weber contributed to this report