Texas Longhorns running back CJ Baxter (4) celebrates a first down during the Sugar Bowl College Football Playoff semifinals game against the Washington Huskies at the Caesars Superdome on Monday, Jan. 1, 2024 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman
Not long after teammate Colin Simmons entertained questions about his confidence and the school’s single-season sack record Thursday evening, Texas football running back CJ Baxter strode to a podium inside of the Moncrief Athletic Complex.
It has been a while since Baxter had spoken with the local media. Three hundred and seventy-eight days, to be exact.
Article continues below this ad
“Y’all miss me,” Baxter asked the assembled reporters.
Baxter last participated in such a conference Aug. 1, 2024. Five days later, he suffered a knee injury that ended his second season of college football before it even began.
Texas typically does not have its injured players speak publicly. So if Baxter is taking questions, he must be feeling close to 100%, right?
“Yeah. I feel great,” Baxter said. “One day at a time is the big saying I like to say every day, just one day at a time, Coach (Steve Sarksian), the training staff, they wouldn’t put me in if I wasn’t ready to go.”
Article continues below this ad
Baxter was injured in one of the first practices of UT’s 2024 preseason camp. Texas never revealed the severity of Baxter’s injury, but ESPN reported at the time that he damaged multiple ligaments in his right knee. On Thursday, Baxter went into detail about a rehab process that took its toll mentally on the then-teenager.
“I’m not going to sit here and sugarcoat it,” Baxter said. “The first two months were very brutal mentally, like watching the games. I had surgery the week before the first game, so I had to stay home and watch from the couch because I couldn’t move around as much. It was hard, like it was hard for me to watch football. It was hard for me to do a lot of things. I was really just sitting on my butt, I couldn’t do much at all. But man, when I look back on it now, I’m not glad that I got injured, but I’m grateful for what it did for me mentally, physically, spiritually, things like that.”
Did the injury and the ensuing rehab change how the 6-foot-1, 227-pound back will play this season? When it comes to his body, only time will tell. But it did have an affect.
“I didn’t play last year physically, but I became a real student of the game,” Baxter said. “Because in practices, I would have a script. I would be behind the line of scrimmage, looking at the whole field. During games, (former UT assistant coach Tashard) Choice and the running backs, they will let me get the iPad, and they would be like, ‘Hey, what did you see?’ I think that’s helped me a lot.”
Article continues below this ad
Running back CJ Baxter carries the ball during a Texas Football practice at the Frank Denius Fields in Austin, July 30, 2025.
Sara Diggins, Austin American-Statesman
CJÂ Baxter returns to crowded, talented Texas backfield
A five-star recruit out of Florida, Baxter started in the first game of UT’s 2023 campaign. He is one of three true freshmen to start at running back for the Longhorns in the last 50 seasons. The other two? Earl Campbell in 1974 and Ricky Williams in 1995.
As a freshman, Baxter rushed 138 times for 659 yards during a season that featured a 117-yard performance at Iowa State. Baxter entered the following season as the favorite to become UT’s next 1,000-yard rusher. But after his injury, Quintrevion Wisner stepped up. Wisner rushed for 1,064 yards and five touchdowns.
Article continues below this ad
Wisner, who is the Southeastern Conference’s leading returning rusher, and Baxter belong to the same recruiting class and could form a formidable 1-2 punch in the Texas backfield this season. The Longhorns also have reinforcements among the running backs in sophomore Jerrick Gibson, redshirt freshman Christian Clark and freshmen Rickey Stewart Jr. and James Simon.
“It’s nothing like being able to play with the running back that you came into college with,” Wisner said earlier this month. “Just being able to have (CJ) back in the room with us and me and him attacking defenses like we’re about to do, it’s going to be crazy.”
Texas running back coach Chad Scott has praised Baxter’s return to the field, and Sarkisian labeled the running back as one of the standouts of this past weekend’s intrasquad scrimmage. Sarkisian said Baxter ran hard and was physical in the scrimmage, and Baxter later joked with his father that “I was more excited to get tackled than score a touchdown.”
“He’s got something coming. For sure, it’s going to be a good season for him,” UT receiver Ryan Wingo said.
Article continues below this ad
Assessed Texas linebacker Liona Lefau: “He’s doing a great job picking up where he left off.”
Texas Softball’s Mia Scott walks out onto the field as the team celebrates their National Championship win with fans at Red & Charline McCombs Field, June 7, 2025.
Sara Diggins, Austin American-Statesman
Can CJ Baxter match girlfriend Mia Scott with a title run of his own?
Last year’s knee ailment was the first major injury that Baxter had dealt with. When asked who he leaned on for support, Baxter credited God, the Texas trainers, his parents, his girlfriend and even some words of encouragement about the book of Job from then-UT assistant Blake Gideon.
Article continues below this ad
Now, about that girlfriend.
Baxter is dating Mia Scott, the ex-Texas softball player who wrapped up a storied college career with a national championship this past June. Adding to Scott’s Longhorn lore was the report that she had torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee.
The fact that both members of this power couple dealt with knee injuries in the past year was not lost on Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte, who joked at the softball team’s championship celebration that Scott needed to give Baxter some recovery advice. Baxter said this week that Scott has also not let him forget about what she accomplished with one healthy knee.
“She didn’t have surgery so she’s able to do it. I had surgery, so I had a little setback,” Baxter argued. “But no, she pushed me, if anything. When it was days I didn’t want to get up and feeling lazy, she made me get up.”
Article continues below this ad
Baxter said that Scott’s individual championship trophy sits on his nightstand so he sees it whenever he gets up. He knows that he has to get one of his own.
For Baxter, who wouldn’t say if he’ll wear a knee brace this fall, that process could begin as soon as Aug. 30 when No. 1 Texas opens its season at No. 3 Ohio State. How will Baxter react when he makes his first appearance since he was UT’s leading rusher in the 2024 Sugar Bowl? He just knows that he will be grateful when that moment happens.
“I’m grateful to be back on the field,” Baxter said. “One play at a time, one game at a time, one day at a time, one meeting at a time, everything is at a time. I’m just grateful to be out there. I do get a feeling I’m going to definitely make my plays when my number’s called.”
Article continues below this ad