AMES, Iowa — Texas freshman CJ Baxter proved plenty capable of carrying the load at running back.

In his first start since the Longhorns' win at Alabama in the second week of the season, Baxter ran for a career-high 117 yards on 20 carries and led the team in receptions with five, albeit for just 13 yards. He had runs of 12, 13, 21, 13 and 14 yards and averaged 5.8 yards per carry. He had only seven touches at halftime.

Texas will miss Jonathon Brooks, who has more than 1,500 yards of offense before suffering a season-ending knee injury last week against TCU. But Baxter’s big game showed that Texas remains more than capable of grounding and pounding with the run game.

It also showed that Baxter has learned from the adversity he faced earlier this season, when he suffered a foot injury and missed a handful of games, which opened up the door for Brooks to emerge as a star.

“Everything I've been through since I've been here helped me get to where I was tonight,” Baxter said.  “Going through the injury, JB (Brooks) taking the No. 1 one spot, and then just learning from him (Brooks) every day. He helped me get to this point tonight.”

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas football got a big lift from freshman running back CJ Baxter