As focus begins to shift toward the season opener in September, the Longhorns were dealt a pair of setbacks during fall camp.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian officially ruled out wide receiver Isaiah Neyor and offensive lineman Junior Angilau for the season Monday. Both players were expected to be starters on the offensive side of the ball.

Neyor and Angilau both suffered season-ending ACL injuries during a scrimmage on Aug. 13, Sarkisian said. 

“I feel for those guys, they both had really good offseasons,” Sarkisian said during Monday’s media availability. “For us, now it’s next man up. We gotta make sure we’ve got those pieces in place, which I think we’ve done a good job of (through) our recruiting.”

Texas’ offense lost a versatile weapon in Neyor. The junior, who transferred from Wyoming in January, racked up 878 yards and 12 touchdowns for the Cowboys last year. The talented wide receiver would have provided the Longhorns with a consistent deep ball threat, as he averaged 19.95 yards per reception last season.

Neyor was placed on the Biletnikoff Award watch list, awarded to the nation’s best wide receiver, this season. While replacing that level of talent and hype won’t be easy, Sarkisian said he likes what he has seen from a collection of young receivers in redshirt freshman Casey Cain, freshman Brenen Thompson, sophomore Troy Omeire and freshman Savion Red. 

With pre-snap motions and shifts a key part of Sarksiain’s offensive schemes, it will be important for the young receivers behind sophomore Xavier Worthy and junior Jordan Whittington to be prepared to line up from any spot on the outside. Although Sarkisian said it is unrealistic to expect them to have everything mastered after a few practices, his staff will keep coaching them.

“When we get ready to play our first ballgame, the goal is to feel really comfortable with six guys that can go in that game and, regardless of the situation of the game, feel comfortable about what they can do,” Sarkisian said.

Losing Angilau, who has had 34 career starts at Texas, hurts an offensive line that was already inexperienced as a whole. Angilau could comfortably play both guard spots and at center, and his injury will shake up how the interior of Texas’ offensive line looks this season.

Although Angilau was slated to start at left guard, Sarkisian said he believes the injury hurts Texas’ depth at center more so than at either of the guard spots. With Angilau being the backup center, his injury leaves the center position with very little experience behind starting sophomore Jake Majors. 

“We came into camp very deep at that position intentionally, so I don’t think we’re in dire straits anywhere (on the offensive line),” Sarkisian said. “What it does, though, is put our young players in a position to see who can step up.”

Sarkisian said senior running back Roschon Johnson, junior defensive back Jahdae Barron and freshman offensive lineman Cole Hutson also sustained injuries during the scrimmage, but expects them to all be ready to play in the season opener against Louisiana-Monroe on Sept. 3.