11 days until Texas Football: Jalen Catalon set to surge as a Longhorn; DeAndre Moore learning at slot

Inside Texas is putting a new twist on long-time photographer Will Gallagher’s time-honored countdown to Texas football kickoff. In addition to Will’s great pictures, the Inside Texas staff will go through every player on the roster by jersey number and offer a season outlook on each, from five-star to walk-on. 

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We’ll also look back at other greats to wear that day’s number, with special reverence to some of Texas’ best. 

Today is 11 days until kickoff. No. 11 for the Longhorns this season will be worn by Jalen Catalon, a senior safety that transferred from Arkansas, and DeAndre Moore, a true freshman wide receiver.

Jalen Catalon season outlook

Texas missed on Catalon when it first recruited him during the 2019 cycle. After he entered the transfer portal following the 2022 campaign, Texas made sure that didn’t happen again.

Catalon made a home at Arkansas as the middle safety in the Flyover defense. He became a household name during the 2020 campaign, earning freshman All-American honors as well as All-SEC billing. He came out of the gate strong in 2021, inflicting a good bit of damage to Texas in Fayetteville.

Then, injuries hampered his career, cutting his 2021 and 2022 seasons short. He sought a new home, and found one in Austin.

Texas has been careful with Catalon in part to keep him healthy for the season and also due to the high level of play he’s shown during the spring, summer, and fall. He’s almost a known commodity at the position. Texas knows they’ll get an instinctive striker who’ll throw his body around. They want other teams to learn that information during the season.

Along with Jerrin Thompson, Catalon is primed for a major season with the Longhorns.

Catalon was a shining star at Arkansas when he was healthy. He was a physical presence in the defensive backfield, and played in 21 games, starting 16, during his career with the Razorbacks from 2019-22.

Catalon amassed 159 tackles, 81 solo stops, 3.5 tackles for loss, five interceptions, 14 passes defended, and three forced fumbles over that stint. He played in all 10 games and started nine at strong safety in 2020 when he was named a semifinalist for the Thorpe Award and earned a spot on the All-SEC First Team by the AP and second team by the coaches.

Jalen Catalon as a recruit

DeAndre Moore season outlook

Moore enrolled early after a late flip from Louisville, and took advantage of the early opportunities afforded to him. He received a number of second-string snaps at slot behind Jordan Whittington during the spring, and is likely to remain in that role this season.

He’ll have to contend with how Steve Sarkisian deploys his wide receivers, plus fellow freshman Ryan Niblett. Snaps should be there for the young Californian this season on offense and even in special teams.

DeAndre Moore as a recruit

Recent player to wear No. 11: Sam Ehlinger

Ehlinger was the heart and soul of the Longhorns for his four years on campus, playing in 46 career games with 43 starts. He guided Texas to 27 wins as the starting quarterback, the fourth-most in school history and was the seventh two-time team captain (2019-20) in Longhorns’ history.

Ehlinger amassed 11,436 yards and 94 touchdowns passing in his career and 1,903 yards and 33 TDs on the ground in his Texas career. He even caught nine passes for 115 yards.

Ehlinger was winner of the 2020 Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year and a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, Wuerffel Trophy and Bobby Bowden Trophy in 2020. He was selected to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team and was the Co-Big 12 Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year and named a semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien Award and Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award as a senior when he earned second-team All-Big 12 recognition from the league’s coaches.

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All-Americans to wear No. 11

Ricky Williams, RB, 1997

Derrick Johnson, LB, 2003 and 2004

Steve Habel co-authored this article