MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — For all of Texas’ struggles over the last six weeks, the Longhorns still sport the 13th highest-scoring offense in college football and second in the Big 12 Conference.
The unit took a major hit last week when talented sophomore tailback Bijan Robinson suffered a season-ending elbow injury in a 57-56 overtime loss to Kansas.
Despite the loss of Robinson and the Jayhawks pulling off an upset in what marked Texas’ fifth straight setback, the Longhorns got a record-setting performance from freshman wideout Xavier Worthy.
On 23 targets, Worthy finished with 14 receptions for 152 yards and three touchdowns. The 14 catches set a single-game record for a UT freshman and was one shy of tying the Longhorns’ single-game mark.
“Worthy is playing as good as any freshman in the country and they do a good job of getting him the ball,” WVU head coach Neal Brown said. “He’s fearless, he can run and he does a nice job of high-pointing the ball.”
The most productive performance of Worthy’s career to this point left him the all-time single-season leader among Texas freshmen in catches, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.
With 831 receiving yards, Worthy ranks first in the Big 12 and 30th nationally. His 49 receptions are third in the league, while his 11 scores through the air is the top mark in college football.
“Usually when you do find him, they move him, so you have to find him again,” WVU defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley said. “That’s the chess match. They’re going to get him the ball and we know that, and he’s going to make some plays. He has against everybody. It’s not like he’s going to stop that and I’d be naive to think that.
“So you’re going to have to constantly adjust to where he’s at and how they’re trying to use him, because they’re going to use him a lot of different ways and they’ve been pretty open about it. They’re going to get him 15, 20 touches a game. We know we’re going to have to find him wherever he’s at.”
Worthy has at least one touchdown catch in six of Texas’ 10 games, and he’s increased his production in Big 12 play. A 6-foot-1, 160-pound native of Fresno, California, Worthy caught five passes for 100 yards and three TDs in his first conference game against Texas Tech.
Two weeks later, Worthy finished with the second-best single-game receiving mark in UT history when he hauled in 261 yards worth of passes on nine catches, while scoring twice in a loss to Oklahoma.
“They do a really good job of tagging him in the run game where [quarterback Casey Thompson] has an opportunity to get him the ball,” Brown said. [Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian] does a really good job of moving him around.
“They’ve had a lot of different injuries and some issues at wideout numbers wise. As a play caller, it sounds kind of weird, but sometimes it’s easier to call plays when you’re thinned out at the receiver position. You can just call it for one guy rather than thinking about getting three, four or five guys the ball, which sometimes gets a little muddy.”
With an average of nearly 17 yards per reception, Worthy has also proven to be dangerous after the catch.
“He has great speed and he changes direction without slowing down, which is an elite talent,” Brown said. “He’s a plus guy after the catch. He’s thin in stature, but he finishes runs. He’s a big-time player and worthy of all the accolades he’s gotten thus far in his freshman year.”