Arizona State DL & Texas Ex Zac Swanson Slams Longhorns: 'Kicked Me Out!'

When the Longhorns meet the Sun Devils in Atlanta on Jan. 1st for the College Football Playoffs, they will encounter a lot of familiar faces.

Sep 7, 2024; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils defensive lineman Zac Swanson (92) against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Mountain America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The widespread use of the transfer portal in college football has made it common for players to switch teams for a better opportunity to play or to establish a bigger brand. And for the Texas Longhorns, they will have to face off with an unusual number of former players when they battle against the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl on Jan 1st.

Six players on the Sun Devils roster used to play for Texas. Safety Xavion Alford, receivers Jake Smith and Troy Omeire, defensive ends J'Mond Tapp and Prince Dorbah, and defensive tackle Zac Swanson are the Texas transfers. The only player to see extensive playing time for the Longhorns would be Jake Smith, who played for Texas between 2019-2020 and brought in nine touchdowns and over 500 receiving yards.

The only player who starts out of the six for Arizona State this year would be Xavion Alford, who only made four tackles with Texas in 2020 before transferring to USC and finally finding a home with Arizona State. Alford has made 82 tackles (37 solo) in twelve starts for the Sun Devils including two interceptions. Alford helped win the Big 12 Championship against Iowa State with seven tackles (four solo).

However, there is also another former Longhorn and now-Sun Devil who already made himself known ahead of the matchup in Atlanta.

Sep 7, 2024; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils defensive lineman Zac Swanson (92) against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Mountain America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Zac Swanson, who was a four-star recruit for the Horns as a member of the 2022 class, went viral on X this past week for saying Texas "kicked him out" and that it would be "a dream" to play them.

"That's my dream...That's a team that kicked me out," Swanson said last week. "They said if you want to stay at Texas, you might as well quit football and just go to school here. So, a lot of motivation there for me."

Obviously, those comments came before the Longhorns beat Clemson and made it to Atlanta to take on the Sun Devils to begin with.

Swanson has 16 tackles, two tackles for loss, and .5 sacks in 12 games this season as a backup nose tackle.

Despite all the drama online, Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian said he was "happy" for the transfers to "have this opportunity" when he talked to the media on Monday.

"For them to be in the quarterfinals of the CFP, I'm really happy for those guys," Sarkisian said. "Our players were talking about it today, so and so, you know that name started popping up again today. I do think that's the era of college football where we're at now."

Sarkisian and the transfers both will have over a week to prepare. The CFP quarterfinals game will be on New Year's Day with kickoff at noon CT on ESPN. The game will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.

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