AUSTIN – Texas Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian is not ruling out the possibility of the team adding another running back to the roster via the transfer portal before the season opener against Colorado State.

During a meeting with the media on Monday, Sarkisian acknowledged that nothing is guaranteed in that regard, but the season-long absences of Cedric Baxter and Christian Clark could prompt the team to look at the backfield a little deeper.

“We definitely have a spot we can use,” Sarkisian said. “A lot of times this late in the game, it’s probably not a traditional transfer, but more of a graduate transfer or something like that. So we’re looking at all of our options. We don’t want to just take someone just to take someone. If it’s someone that can help us in some capacity, maybe a limited role, a larger role, whatever that is, we’re looking at all of our options.”

According to 247Sports’ transfer portal database, the top running backs available include former five-star UCF recruit Demarkcus Bowman, East Carolina transfer Kamarro Edmonds, North Texas transfer Tre Bradford, former Utah Ute Chris Curry and former Longhorn Derrian Brown, who originally came to Texas as a four-star recruit in the 2019 class.

These are just a few of the notable names. As Sarkisian said, the Longhorns won’t simply add a running back just because they can. There has to be a fit both schematically and culturally that the team sees as potentially beneficial going forward.

Fortunately, Sarkisian said, the team looks much healthier in terms of injury after the losses of Baxter and Clark.

“We’re in great health, honestly,” Sarkisian said. “Kudos to Coach Becton and his team for the work they’ve done this summer. Kudos to our training staff. A couple of guys were a little limited, but everyone is back in action. At this stage of training camp, we’ve had a couple of big, season-ending injuries that have to be dealt with, but we’re not really missing a lot of players that are ‘out.'”

No. 4 Texas opens at home against Colorado State on Saturday, August 31 at 2:30 p.m. CT.