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The Texas football team continues to push towards an SEC title appearance in its debut season as a conference member. To do so, they’ll need to take down rival Texas A&M in the regular season finale.
A win would set up a rematch with Georgia in the championship game, the only team on the schedule to hand the Longhorns a loss. Running back Jaydon Blue is taking extra steps to ensure his mistakes don’t come back to bite the team against the Aggies.
Blue has been productive in his role as RB2, providing a potent 1-2 punch alongside starter Quintrevion Wisner. Together, the duo has racked up nearly 1,200 yards, including a 254-yard output in last week’s 31-14 win over Kentucky.
Blue accounted for 96 of those rushing yards while finding the endzone. Despite that production, however, he’s been plagued by ball security issues. According to Eric Henry of 247 Sports, the rusher has fumbled eight times on 214 career touches. That comes out to a miscue every 26.7 attempts.
This season, he’s let go of the football four times, fumbling once in each of his last two contests. While none have come in Longhorn losses, he’s looking to clean things up with that massive rivalry game vs. Texas A&M looming. It’s led him to mimic former Texas star Bijan Robinson.
Robinson dealt with ball security issues of his own in 2022. To alleviate the problem, he carried a football around the Austin campus. Jaydon Blue is doing the same! He was spotted toting the rock in a weekly interview with reporters on Monday.
RB Jaydon Blue is indeed carrying a football around campus and is speaking on the fumbles. pic.twitter.com/2tnjO9T5cq
— Eric Henry (@EricCHenry_) November 25, 2024
“A lot of it is just me carrying the ball low at times,” Blue said of the fumbles. “When it’s in my left hand, I tend to carry it naturally low.”
He’s seen holding the football high and tight in his left hand due to that proclivity in hopes of breaking the habit throughout the remainder of the season. That should be music to Texas’s ears as they’ll likely lean on Blue in the finale.
Jaydon Blue has to help Quinn Ewers.
Ewers was injured in that game against Kentucky, suffering a mild ankle sprain after being hip drop tackled. While he is planning to start under center against the Aggies, the setback is still a concern.
With the signal caller hobbled last week, Texas relied heavily on the run game. Ewers threw the ball just five times in the second half, and at one point, the Longhorns handed the ball off on 15 straight plays.
That tactic worked against the Wildcats as Texas running backs averaged more than six yards a pop. They’ll next face an Aggies defense that ranks 10th in the SEC in both yards and touchdowns allowed on the ground.
Jaydon Blue will be called upon with Quinn Ewers likely playing at less than 100%. He leads the team in rushing scores and averages 5.3 yards per carry, besting teammate Quintrevion Wisner. Cleaning up the fumbles is priority No. 1. He’s doing his part to fix the issue.