In a young, crowded running back room, it's hard to make your mark and separate yourself as a top option. With Quintrevion Wisner coming off a collegiate career-defining performance in Texas’ most important win this season, and CJ Baxter waiting to make his eventual return as a premier back for the team, it’s even harder.

On Tuesday, Oct. 14, On3sports broke the news that sophomore running back Jerrick Gibson had left the Longhorns football program with plans to preserve his redshirt and enter the transfer portal. This comes after Gibson had seen noticeable losses in snap count in comparison to fellow backs James Simon and Christian Clark.

After the injury plague had spread through Texas’s running back core in Gibson’s true freshman season, he was able to step up against non-conference opponents, scoring touchdowns against Colorado State, Michigan, and Louisiana-Monroe. He’d even carry that momentum into his home state of Florida, where he eclipsed 100 yards on the ground, the first time of his career.

However, throughout his two seasons with the Horns, fumbles remained a persistent problem. Coughing up the ball four times on only 115 carries isn’t the output you want to see, especially when you’ve got a locker room full of guys waiting to vulture any carries they can get. While that’s not to say other running backs preyed on Gibson’s downfall, to make it to the league, most players need all the possessions they can get.

While the news may be shocking, it shouldn’t come as a total surprise, as Gibson only managed one combined rush attempt against Ohio State, Florida, and Oklahoma. It’s not the type of workload you see from someone who's playing a significant role in an offense.

The news come just a week after head coach Steve Sarkisian gave critical comments on the Longhorns’ run game.

"It's not working,” Sarkisian said. “That's for sure, that's what's going on, to put it as simply as that, it just hasn't hit."

Sarkisian further explained his point, claiming Texas’ substandard production on the ground can be attributed to the carousel of backs at the team's disposal.

"We've been roladexing running backs, I think that's a little bit of an issue, a lot of times," Sarkisian said. "When you have a runner, which traditionally for us we've kind of got that lead runner and then a second runner, the lead runner starts to find a rhythm with the timing of the blockers, and we don't have that right now.”

Jerrick Gibson is still a talented back with the skill to prove it on the field, but sometimes the pieces don't fall into place, and a change of scenery is the only option left. Gibson will leave the season with 152 yards on 37 carries (4.1 YPC) and one touchdown.