Jake Majors ready for another Red River opportunity after only four snaps in last year's loss

Jake Majors, the captain of the Texas Longhorns offensive line, was on the field for just four snaps during last year’s loss to the Oklahoma Sooners.

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They were an eventful four.

• Play 1: Quinn Ewers completed a pass to Xavier Worthy, who was tackled for a two-yard loss by Woodi Washington
• Play 2: Quinn Ewers was intercepted by Gentry Williams
• Play 3: Jonathon Brooks rushed for a one-yard gain
• Play 4: Quinn Ewers sacked for a loss of four yards by Da’Jon Terry.

Majors was engaged with Danny Stutsman on that final play. Ewers tried to step into the pocket, but after Terry pushed Hayden Conner off of him, he wrapped Ewers up for the sack and fell on Majors’ left knee in the process.

After he gingerly left the field for the last time that game, Majors eventually was replaced by Connor Robertson. Though Robertson may have appeared as No. 2 on the depth chart, in reality Cole Hutson would have been the next in line to snap the ball for Texas. But Hutson was injured earlier in the year against Wyoming, so the third option at center was thrust into the game.

The Longhorns mounted a comeback, but Oklahoma prevailed in the final moments. All Majors could do was watch.

“It wasn’t fun but at the same time I was fully confident in everybody out there to get us a win,” Majors said Monday. “We fell short, it’s okay. But it’s a new year like I said and I’m healthy now. I look forward to being healthy at the end of the game.”

With the benefit of a bye after the 34-30 loss to Oklahoma, Majors returned for the Longhorns’ next matchup with Houston. He started every remaining game and was one of the key cogs of an offensive line that gave Brooks the chance to become a 1000-yard rusher and led the Longhorns to the Big 12 Championship plus the last scheduled iteration of the four-team College Football Playoff.

He returned for his fifth season of college football in 2024, and after last season’s heartbreak in multiple senses, it would be understandable if Majors had this game in the Cotton Bowl circled on his calendar. As he often has, Majors has maintained a similar focus on this game just as he would for any other.

“He feels pretty same old to me,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday.

“Same old” may not be a bad thing ahead of this heated rivalry, especially with what Majors is tasked with on a weekly basis. Sarkisian mentioned he is calmed when he sees Majors properly balancing being a playful, good teammate with the responsibilities levied on him as a leader of not just the offense but the entire team.

“He’s a really good leader because when it’s football and his hand is on that ball and he’s making the calls, he’s very intense. He’s a very, very intense player,” Sarkisian said. “In pre-practice when we’re working quarterback-center exchanges, he’s loose, he’s laughing, he’s having fun. Then when you come to meetings and we’re working third down protections and all the calls, he’s dialed in and it’s like he’s almost an extension of (Kyle) Flood.”

Sarkisian would add, “That makes me feel good because that tells me he’s not over the top in one direction or the other. I think that kind of permeates throughout the offensive line.”

Sark, Flood, Majors, and the Texas O-line will face one of their toughest challenges of the season on Saturday in the Fair Park. Oklahoma has one of the better defensive fronts not just in the SEC, but in all of college football. Quality defensive linemen like Terry, Ethan Downs, Damonic Williams, Jayden Jackson, Gracen Halton, R Mason Thomas, and Trace Ford backed by linebackers Stutsman and Kip Lewis will do everything they can to attack the Texas offense.

Protecting Ewers, who is making his return to the starting lineup, will be priority No. 1. So too will creating holes for the run game against the Sooner defense.

“They just do what they’re coached to do very well,” Majors said. “They hit the gaps the right way. They run stunts the right way. They cover the right way. Our job is to keep the pocket clean for Quinn so he can deliver. The run game, sort stuff out at the line of scrimmage so we can set it up for a good play.”

Majors leads one of the top offenses in the country as the player who begins every play for the Longhorn offense. Texas is No. 7 in scoring offense, No. 7 in total offense, and No. 11 in yards per play. In advanced measures, the Longhorns rank No. 5 in offensive FEI and No. 2 in offensive SP+.

A lot of responsibility falls on Majors’ shoulders. Sarkisian wouldn’t have it any other way, nor would Majors.

“I think we’re kind of putting the pieces together on what we want to look like by the end of the year,” Majors said. “Of course, we’re only five games in and just got done with the bye week. We’re not a finished product by any means, but I’m very proud of the way that we’ve just progressed, learned from our mistakes so far, and how we take all those mistakes with a grain of salt knowing we can get better the next week.”

This will be Majors’ fourth start in the Red River Shootout. He’s currently 1-2, just like his head coach.

While he had the chance to wear the Golden Hat in 2022, he’s looking forward to earning the right to wear it again in 2024. But he knows it won’t be the simplest of tasks.

“It’s a high emotion game,” Majors said. “It’s a well respected rivalry.”

There’s confidence underneath the jersey with No. 65 heading into Saturday.

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“We’re going to give it to them,” Majors said.