AUSTIN, Texas(AP) Texas took only one game to make a change at running back.

Tre' Newton will get the start for the No. 5 Longhorns this week against Wyoming after scoring three touchdowns in Texas' 34-17 season-opening win at Rice. Newton led the Longhorns with 61 yards on the ground.

Cody Johnson, who had earned the starting job after an impressive training camp, ran for 59 yards against Rice but was ineffective in key short-yardage situations. Coach Mack Brown said Johnson sprained an ankle at the end of an 18-yard run on the second play of the game but didn't tell the coaches because he didn't want to come out.

Johnson told him, "I've worked too hard to be the starter and I don't want to lose it," Brown said. "It was swollen after the game and that's the first time he told us. ... We got on him about not letting us know."

Johnson didn't have an obvious limp on the field and played in the fourth quarter. By then, Texas had shifted most of the running duties to Newton and Fozzy Whittaker, but Brown said Johnson twice put himself back in the game, including the last play.

Johnson is now listed third behind Whittaker, although the depth chart indicates either one could be the top backup to Newton.

Brown said he wasn't sure whether he'd have replaced Johnson if he hadn't been hurt.

"It would be hard to tell. We were all hard on him for missing cuts. I appreciate he tried to play," Brown said.

Tailback is a higher-profile position than it has been in the last few seasons when the Longhorns based the offense around the passing of Colt McCoy. Brown has said he wants more balance in the offense and Texas ran the ball 46 times against Rice.

Newton, the son of former Dallas Cowboys lineman Nate Newton, didn't know he'd been named the starter until he was handed a depth chart while talking to a group of reporters. Newton started five games last season.

"We as a running back group we don't put too much thought into that," Newton said. "You can't go into a week thinking about that. You just have to be ready to go out there when your name is called."

Brown seemed to have settled down in the two days after the game. On Saturday, he wasn't happy with a running game that couldn't get a touchdown after getting inside the 4-yard-line on the first drive, his defense that dropped two interceptions for easy touchdowns and special teams that muffed a punt return and missed two field goals.

"As much as we've talked about toughness, I left the field mad," Brown said. "(But) the objective is to win (the first game) and see what we can see. I'd rather be a team that gets better every week."

Offensive coordinator Greg Davis said he thought Texas lacked intensity in an opening game against a 30-point underdog. After Johnson ripped the 18-yard run on Texas' second play, Davis said he expected to see excitement on the sideline and got polite applause instead.

"I thought it was a tennis match," Davis said. "That frustrated me."