The star defensive end was seen out of pads and wearing a boot on his right foot as the Longhorns defeated UTSA.
Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian made sure to note that his team didn't have the most dominant win in Week 3, a 30-6 victory at home over UTSA, but when it comes to the three phases of the game, most of the production came on defense.
That was even without its best player for an extended period.
The Roadrunners were just 1-11 on third down. No. 1-ranked Texas held their opposition to just 3.0 yards per play and only nine first downs in the contest.
Near the end of the second quarter, All-American defensive end Colin Simmons was seen limping off the Longhorns' sideline. He later reappeared in street clothes, wearing a boot on his right foot, and missed the entire second half.
Sarkisian clarified Simmons' undisclosed injury in his postgame press conference.
"I don't think Colin is serious," Sarkisian said. "It was more precautionary to get him out. I think Colin will be fine."
Sarkisian added that he expects Simmons to be ready to return to the field for the morning kickoff at No. 14 Tennessee to begin SEC play at Neyland Stadium next weekend.
Earlier in the game, the junior pass rusher sacked UTSA quarterback Owen McCown; Simmons leads all active FBS players with 23 career sacks. This season, 3.5 of his four total tackles have come from behind the line of scrimmage.
In Simmons' place during the second half, Sarkisian was impressed by freshman defensive end Richard Wesley. Zina Umeozulu also rotated in for more snaps along the D-line.
"He's a natural pass rusher, right?" Sarkisian said of Wesley, the former 5-star recruit out of California. "Everybody has strengths, and then they have stuff they want to work on. But I thought tonight, his ability to play the run was a positive. But he definitely has pass rush ability."
The Longhorns' lone sack of the game came from Simmons, but there were six tackles for loss in total, suffocating the Roadrunners to just 72 yards rushing for the game.
Getting Simmons back for the SEC opener will be significant for the Longhorns, who will have a national TV audience and be featured in their second ESPN College GameDay broadcast over the last three weeks. After the crew was in Austin for the Ohio State game and in Oxford this weekend for LSU-Ole Miss, they will now head to Knoxville to cover the Longhorns and Volunteers as a top-15 opener to conference action.
Tennessee beat Kennesaw State 42-9 on Saturday. Quarterback Faizon Brandon threw for 178 yards on over 69 percent completion with a touchdown. He also rushed 11 times for 47 yards, which underscores the importance of needing Simmons to be healthy on the edge to contain the run.
