Austin, Texas ? Texas senior wide receiver Limas Sweed, whose 20 career touchdown catches rank No. 2 in school history, will undergo wrist surgery that is expected to end his college career, the team announced Monday.
Sweed will have surgery to repair ligament damage, trainer Kenny Boyd said. He first injured the wrist in the preseason but came back to play in the No. 23 Longhorns’ first six games. He had just two catches in Saturday’s 28-21 loss to Oklahoma and was taken out late.
“I knew it was an injury I would be dealing with going into the season, and I did everything I could to play through the pain and help the team,” Sweed said.
“I’ve aggravated it a couple of times and again last week and have probably been in more pain than I let anybody know,” he added.
Losing Sweed is a blow to a Longhorns team trying to end a four-game Big 12 losing streak that dates to last season. Texas (4-2, 0-2) plays at Iowa State (1-5, 0-2) on Saturday.
Sweed tied a school record last season with 12 touchdown receptions. He started 39 consecutive games and had 19 catches with three TDs this year.
At 6-foot-5, Sweed was a big target for Texas quarterbacks and often a mismatch for cornerbacks. He averaged 33.3 yards on his touchdown receptions, none bigger than his late-game catch in the end zone at Ohio State in 2005, a key victory in Texas’ march to the national championship.
“He’s made a lot of great plays and had a record-setting career at Texas,” coach Mack Brown said. “We appreciate everything he did to try to help the team this year, but since he is in such intense pain, he cannot continue to play.”