When Texas takes on Utah in the Alamo Bowl, the Longhorns will have a noticeable lack of depth at linebacker as the program announced that LBs David Gbenda and Byron Vaughns will not play because of a violation of team rules.

Vaughns redshirted last season before he appeared in 10 games this year. He recorded 14 tackles, including eight tackles against Kansas. Gbenda appeared in four games, and made one tackle. So playing in the bowl game would have taken away a potential redshirt from this season.

This is a period of transition for Texas as coach Tom Herman overhauled his coaching staff following a disappointing 7-5 season. Texas lost three of its last five games.

This is the third appearance in the Alamo Bowl since 2012 for Texas, and the Longhorns are trying to re-gain the momentum they lost since they beat Georgia in last year’s Sugar Bowl.

Herman recently hired Mike Yurcich as Texas’ new offensive coordinator from Ohio State, a day after Ohio State’s season ended with a loss to Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl. Yurcich replaced Tim Beck, who was demoted to receivers coach in a staff shakeup that also saw the dismissal of defensive coordinator Todd Orlando.