Texas Longhorns sophomore wide receiver Emmett Mosley remains “limited” in practice as head coach Steve Sarkisian and his team prepare for Saturday’s seismic tilt against the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus on Saturday, the Longhorns head coach reiterated on the SEC Football Coaches Weekly Media Teleconference.
On Monday, Sarkisian confirmed reports that Mosley has been limited in practice during preseason camp with a lower leg injury, a significant setback for the Stanford transfer who didn’t
enroll on the Forty Acres until the summer.
“I think we all would want him to be able to have been going the whole time with us right now,” Sarkisian said.
Given that the 6’2, 210-pounder hasn’t been a full participant in practice, the Longhorns are unlikely to receive any contributions from the Cardinal transfer against the Buckeyes — Pete Nakos of On3 reported on Wednesday that Mosley is “questionable” for Saturday.
“I think for him, the growth is going to be as the season continues to go,” Sarkisian said. “I always go back to Matt Golden last year, where going into the season I don’t think I may have even fielded any question about him for the first couple games, but by the end of the year, he was the topic of discussion. So his evolution as the season goes on is going to be really important as he gets more and more comfortable with us.”
Limited during winter conditioning and spring practice by a toe injury sustained at Houston, Golden’s adjustment during preseason camp was in learning the nuances of Sarkisian’s pro-style offense after playing in Dana Holgorsen’s Air Raid system.
Golden didn’t record more than 52 receiving yards for Texas until his seventh game in burnt orange and white before truly breaking out late in the season with 162 receiving yards in the SEC Championship game against Georgia and 149 yards and the iconic 4th and 13 touchdown catch against Arizona State in the Peach Bowl.
The comparison to Golden comes after Sarkisian made a more favorable comparison between the current Green Bay Packer and the Stanford transfer at the start of preseason camp.
“We’re fortunate with him — the system that he played in at Stanford I think helps him in his transition with us because there’s similarities to the way it was taught conceptually,” Sarkisian said.
“He is a bigger guy than you think. Even for me, I have to remind myself, he’s 210 pounds, and so the fact that he’s very smart, he’s got extremely strong hands, and he’s probably faster than I think, so everything about him is probably better than you would think.”
But now it sounds like there will be a wait to see the attributes that allowed Mosley to record 48 catches for 525 yards and six touchdowns as a freshman, ensuring that redshirt freshman wide receiver Parker Livingstone plays a large role early in the season behind junior DeAndre Moore Jr. and sophomore Ryan Wingo.
