Texas WR Xavier Worthy leaves Big 12 Championship with apparent ankle injury
Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy left Saturday’s Big 12 Championship against Oklahoma State with an apparent leg injury. He caught a 10-yard pass from Quinn Ewers and, on his way out of bounds, appeared to land awkwardly on his left leg.
Worthy immediately grabbed his left ankle when he hit the ground and, after receiving some assistance, headed directly to the locker room.
ABC’s Molly McGrath later reported Worthy headed back to get X-Rays and, after coming back out on crutches, appeared as if his day is done.
“He was back in the X-Ray room and came out onto the field out of his pads,” McGrath said. “He has a boot on his left leg. He’s also using crutches. Now, Texas doesn’t supply injury information, but it looks like Xavier Worthy’s day is done, guys.”
Worthy has been one of the most dynamic playmakers on Texas’ roster this year, leading the Longhorns with 883 yards to go with five receiving touchdowns. Through a little more than three quarters in the Big 12 title game, he had six receptions for 86 yards, which ranked second on the roster behind Ja’Tavion Sanders.
Texas fully dominated the first three quarters of Saturday’s game, taking a 42-14 advantage into the fourth quarter. Ewers was in the midst of a record-setting day, completing 34 of 43 passes for 437 yards and four touchdowns — both of which were Big 12 Championship records.
Steve Sarkisian: ‘We’ll shift our focus’ to the CFP after the Big 12 Championship
Texas got out to a lightning-fast start after forcing an Oklahoma State three-and-out on the opening drive. Ewers led a four-play, 39-yard drive to put the Longhorns up 7-0 before again orchestrating a four-play, 84-yard drive to make it a 14-0 lead. They never looked back, and the lead grew to 49-14 in the fourth quarter.
In addition to a Big 12 title, Texas is also trying to make its case for a spot in the College Football Playoff. The Longhorns could present an intriguing conversation for the committee ahead of Selection Sunday, but Sarkisian said he’s not focusing on that.
Once the game ends, though, that’s when Sarkisian will start thinking about the postseason.
“When the games done, we’ll shift our focus to that,” Sarkisian said on College GameDay. “But I really believe in our resume. I believe in our team. I think — the versatility of our team, we can matchup with anybody in the country at the line of scrimmage, or at the skill positions. I value the win at Alabama. I know that meant a lot to our team and gave us a lot of confidence.
“But I think we’re also finding out the quality of team that Alabama is. Going on the road helped us, getting that win. We’ve been kind of able to kind of run the table here in the Big 12. A challenging task, when you’re getting everybody’s best shot. Now we’ve got to try to finish the deal here today against Oklahoma State.”