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AUSTIN – Tom Herman isn’t hiding his quarterback plan when Texas (4-5, 3-3 in the Big 12) takes on Kansas (1-9, 0-6) on Saturday (5 p.m., Longhorn Network).

Following Thursday’s practice, Herman told reporters that Shane Buechele will start against the Jayhawks. This will make the third start in a row for Buechele, who stepped in for Sam Ehlinger against Baylor after the true freshman was forced to enter concussion protocol.

While Buechele will start, Herman said Ehlinger has been cleared. One big test Ehlinger passed was on Wednesday, the first day since he entered the protocol that he was cleared for contact, when he was allowed engage defenders for the first time since the Oklahoma State game on Oct. 21.

“Because we didn’t want the first contact for him to be on Saturday in a game, we kind of thudded him up,” Herman said. “During a special teams period we had a couple scout team guys kind of thud him and he went through that swimmingly and is fully cleared.”

Buechele has been the primary quarterback running with the No. 1 offense this week. That said, Herman gave Ehlinger enough work so that he’s ready to see the field against the Jayhawks.

“Not as many Shane,” Herman said when asked how many first-team reps Ehlinger got this week. “But I think he’ll be ready to go if we need him to.”

As far as when and how Ehlinger will be used, Hermans said the staff is still looking at the best way to make that happen.

“We’ve talked about running him maybe on a series and maybe giving him a script,” Herman said. “We haven’t finalized that yet, we’ve got time to do that tomorrow.”

On the season, Buechele has a 2-2 record as a starter. The sophomore has completed 65.2 percent of his passes for 1,067 yards and five touchdowns against three interceptions.

Ehlinger, who has a 2-3 record as a starter this season, leads the Longhorns in passing yards (1,419) and passing touchdowns (6) while completing 55.7 percent of his passes. Ehlinger is also second on the squad with 265 rushing yards.

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