While the regular season was not what now second-year head coach Steve Sarkisian would have wanted, the recruiting trail has been much kinder to him.
In his first cycle, the Longhorns were able to bring in the consensus No. 5 class according to 247Sports, On3, and Rivals. Among the arrivals included some quality transfer portal players such as Isaiah Neyor from Wyoming, Ryan Watts from Ohio State, and of course Quinn Ewers, also from Ohio State.
When you have a 5-7 season, you don’t have one issue; you have a multitude of them. Luckily, in the era of the transfer portal there has never been a better time to do a full-scale rebuild than the present moment. And while Sarkisian is grateful that he was able to pull all the talent he has so far, there is one piece out there that is in theory as valuable as Ewers: TCU edge rusher Ochuan Mathis.
Why does Sark need Mathis? Because in order for this team to have a drastic turnaround, they must get better at rushing the passer and sustaining the edge to contain plays. It is no surprise that once Jacoby Jones went down, the defensive play of the team plummeted. Mathis will ensure that does not happen this time around and will be able to serve as a mentor to young edge players Justice Finkley and J’Mond Tapp.
Luckily for Longhorn fans, Mathis was on campus to observe the scrimmage Saturday and will return for an official visit on April 23 for the annual Orange-White spring game.
If Sark lands Mathis, it will not be inconceivable that Texas can go from not making a bowl game to potentially being a Big 12 title contender.
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