Texas Football: Keaontay Ingram has first-team All-Big 12 talent

Keaontay Ingram is one of the best running backs in the Big 12 and the Texas football star has the potential to make the all-conference team.

Keaontay Ingram came to Austin with high hopes and an open competition in the backfield.

Texas was two years removed from losing D’Onta Foreman, a 2,000-yard rusher in 2016. The Longhorns had a rough season in 2017 in terms of rushing yardage as the lead contributor had less than 400 yards on the ground.

That was music to Ingram’s ears coming into the 2018 season. The true freshman had all the talent in the world but he had to fend off Tre Watson who actually finished the season with 43 more carries and 78 more yards, but it was clear that Ingram was the more effective rusher.

Ingram was ranked one of the top-200 recruits in the 2018 class and the No. 6 running back and his high school highlights were awe-inspiring. It was clear that he was ready to compete for the starting job and it didn’t take long for him to get a decent workload — he had 24 rushes in the first three games of the season for 139 yards and two touchdowns.

Although he wasn’t a 1,000-yard rusher in year one like a Kennedy Brooks at Oklahoma, Ingram looked like one of the best players at his position in the Big 12 last year.

Now with control of the backfield, Ingram is almost a lock to reach 1,000 yards if he stays healthy and has all the talent to earn first-team All-Big 12 honors. He is a strong runner with plenty of elusiveness and there’s a good chance he passes up a guy like Pooka Williams Jr. as the No. 2 back in the conference.

Is Ingram better than Williams Jr. or Chuba Hubbard or Darius Anderson? It’s too early to tell, but if he lives up to his potential during his sophomore year, he’ll be on the first team.