5 Texas players to watch against Iowa State

AMES — Three one-score losses in Big 12 play have Iowa State’s football team teetering on the brink of the recently unthinkable: The potential for its first losing season since 2016.

But “potential” doesn’t equal inevitable — even though the Cyclones (3-3, 0-3 Big 12) face long odds Saturday at No. 24 Texas.

“This will be a great test (for) the locker room, the leadership,” ISU head coach Matt Campbell said after last Saturday’s 10-9 setback to No. 20 Kansas State at home.

The Longhorns (4-2, 2-1) opened as 14-point favorites. That Vegas-projected point spread swelled to 17 as of Monday afternoon.

Here are five Texas players to watch in the matchup with the Cyclones at Darrell K Royal Stadium in Austin, Tex.

QB Quinn Ewers

The former five-star recruit from Southlake Carroll High School turned heads when he initially chose Ohio State, but now he’s back in his home state and thriving.

Ewers, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 207 pounds, missed three full games because of injury, but has thrown for six touchdowns and two interceptions when healthy. He shined in the Longhorns’ early upset bid of third-ranked Alabama, going 9 of 12 for 134 yards before suffering an injury to his non-throwing shoulder.

The redshirt freshman shined yet brighter last Saturday, returning to go 21-of-31 through the air for 289 yards and four touchdowns in Texas’s 49-0 rout of Oklahoma.

RB Bijan Robinson

The 6-foot, 220-pound first team all-Big 12 performer leads the conference in total touchdowns with 11 — and 10 of those have come on the ground.

Robinson is averaging 5.9 yards per carry and has rushed for 100-plus yards in four straight games. The junior’s also been productive as a pass catcher, drawing in 12 catches for 203 yards and a touchdown this season.

Robinson’s sound in terms of ball security, as well. In 132 total touches this season, he’s lost just one fumble, but that turnover proved costly in a 37-34 overtime loss to Texas Tech.

Robinson ran for 90 yards on 18 carries (a 5.0 yards per carry average) in last season’s 30-7 loss to ISU.

WR Xavier Worthy

The speedy, but slight sophomore has been a star ever since stepping on campus.

The 6-1, 164-pounder established new Texas single-game freshman records for receptions (14), receiving yards (261) and receiving touchdowns (3) last season. He did the latter twice — and has continued to showcase his big-play ability this season. Four of Worthy’s 26 catches in 2022 have resulted in touchdowns and he’s averaging 15 yards per reception.

LB DeMarvion Overshown

The 6-4, 224-pound senior has been one of the Longhorns’ most consistent defensive players in recent years and is excellent at both stopping the run and disrupting receivers’ routes.

He’s also adept at forcing turnovers. Overshown has forced three fumbles, recovered three more and snared three interceptions in his career. He’s second on the team in total tackles with 24 and all of his 1.5 sacks this season have come in the past three games.

LB Jaylan Ford

The Big 12’s leading tackler with 58 stops, Ford has also forced a fumble this season while providing versatility at his position.

The 6-3 234-pound junior’s notched double-digit tackles in four of the five games he’s played in this season after doing that just once last season.

Ford’s also proven his worth at every stage of his college career. He wasn’t even a top-100 recruit in the state of Texas coming out of high school, but played on special teams in all 10 games of his freshman season, started two times as a sophomore and now is one of the Longhorns’ top defenders.

He’s tallied as many as 15 tackles in a game this season while adding a sack and a pass defended.

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