From the end zone to the locker room, Adonai Mitchell making big impact for Texas football
During the second quarter of Saturday's 29-26 win over TCU, Texas wide receiver Adonai Mitchell ripped off a double move downfield that left him open for an easy touchdown catch in the corner of the end zone.
Quarterback Quinn Ewers’ pass sailed out of bounds, though, preventing the Longhorns from building on an early lead. After kicker Bert Auburn booted home one of his three field goals, Mitchell ran over to the curly-haired kicker and gave him a leaping chest bump before trotting off the field with a big grin.
The moment didn’t go unnoticed by Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, himself a former quarterback who understands the petulance that’s part of many star wideouts.
“I've been around a lot of receivers (who) don't get a ball thrown to them when they feel like they were open,” Sarkisian said. “They’ll come to the sidelines, and they're upset and understandably so. They’re receivers; they want the ball. But for (Mitchell) being the teammate that he is, he knows that, how much the team matters, and he's out there celebrating with the kicker. And so I think that speaks volumes to who AD Mitchell is and what he's about.”
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The former Georgia Bulldog is back home
Mitchell, a 6-foot-4, 195-pound junior from Missouri City outside of Houston, has been all about the big plays ever since he joined Georgia. He had 38 catches for 561 yards while starting 15 of his 21 games there, but four of his seven touchdown catches came during four College Football Playoff games.
Since transferring to Texas in the offseason, Mitchell has 40 catches for 637 yards and nine touchdowns, which ties Oklahoma’s Drake Stoops for tops in the Big 12.
But it’s not the stats that make Mitchell one of the most impactful transfer players in the country, say his teammates and coaches. It’s the intangibles strengthened while playing for a championship Georgia team, it’s the respect he garners in the locker room despite less than a year in the program, and it’s the downright knack for knocking out big plays when needed the most.
More: Texas football notebook: Xavier Worthy, Quinn Ewers show off connection in win over TCU.
“He was a little shy cat when he was first here, didn't really talk much,” said linebacker Jaylan Ford, one of the team’s unquestioned leaders. “But now I feel like he won't stop talking.”
Ford grinned as he described Mitchell’s playful personality. But he’s also serious about how the receiver has added an extra dimension to a balanced offense that averages 459.3 yards and 33.3 points a game. Mitchell’s family visited earlier this week, and Ford took the time to praise their son’s impact.
“I was telling them I'm so glad to have him on our team,” Ford said. “I'm glad they raised him the way they did. His ability to show up in clutch moments when the team needs him, he doesn't shy away from it. He doesn't flinch.”
More: Now alone atop the Big 12, Texas football team forges on despite narrow wins, injury news
Mitchell is making big plays at ‘big moments’
Mitchell’s performance against TCU typified his season. His first of three catches came on a 6-yard touchdown pass late in the first half that pushed Texas’ lead to 13 points. On his second catch, he toe-tapped a second-half reception along the sideline that gave the Longhorns a first down and helped them escape terrible field position in the shadow of their own goal posts. His final — and most crucial — catch came on a third-and-12 with 2:06 left in the game, when he twisted his body around on a deep ball from Ewers and hauled in a 35-yard reception that allowed Texas to run out the clock and seal the win.
“Oh, man, that was a like a movie,” said right tackle Christian Jones, grinning as he relived the game’s decisive play. “AD (Mitchell) is just going backwards and then he catches it like an egg. It was a really, really, really good feeling to see that catch.”
Mitchell shrugged off the degree of difficulty, shifting the praise to Ewers for his ball placement.
“Credit Quinn for just giving me a chance,” he said. “We worked on that a lot in practice, and we took the practice field to the game. Do that and, ultimately, great things happen.”
Mitchell had eight catches for a career-high 149 yards in Texas’ previous game against Kansas State, but Sarkisian emphasized his three catches for 61 yards against TCU Saturday were just as crucial.
“He goes from 100-something yards to three catches but, man, they were all big at critical moments,” Sarkisian said. “We're fortunate to have him. He's got great playmaking ability, and the moment’s never too big for him.”
Saturday's game
No. 7 Texas (9-1, 6-1) at Iowa State (6-4, 5-2), 7 p.m., Fox, 1300
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: WR Adonai Mitchell making big impact in first year for Texas football
