OFFICIAL: Transfer WR Matthew Golden Signs With Texas

The Texas Longhorns have landed a huge commitment, in Houston Cougars transfer Matthew Golden

Matt Galatzan | Dec 20, 2023

The Texas Longhorns landed a major commitment on Monday afternoon from the NCAA Transfer Portal, with explosive former Houston Cougars playmaker Matthew Golden.

Now, Golden to Texas is also official, with the speedy, dynamic receiver signing his letter of intent with the program during Wednesday's Early Signing Period.

Golden ranks as the No. 21 player in the portal per On3's rankings.

He was also the first commitment via the portal for the Longhorns, after losing eight players over the last few weeks, most notably backup quarterback Maalik Murphy.

Matthew Golden / Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Golden has posted 76 catches for 988 yards and 13 touchdowns in his two-year collegiate career. The Houston native has also returned 14 kickoffs for 437 yards and two more scores.

Where Golden truly thrives, however, is on special teams. He averaged 35.6 yards per kickoff return and brought two kicks back for touchdowns. Golden also could be effective on punt returns if given the opportunity.

In Texas' narrow 31-24 win over Houston on Oct. 21, Golden helped bring the Cougars back from a 21-0 deficit to tie the game in the second half before finishing with seven catches for 88 yards and two touchdowns.

The Longhorns had reportedly been pursuing two transfer receivers in South Carolina's Antwane "Juice" Wells and Purdue's Deion Burks. However, Wells elected to head to Ole Miss, and Burks committed to the Oklahoma Sooners.

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The arrival Golden couldn't come at a better time for the Horns, who are likely set to lose their star wide receiver trio of Jordan Whittington, Xavier Worthy, and Adonai Mitchell to the NFL Draft this spring.

The Longhorns will still have talent at the position with Johntay Cook, DeAndre Moore, and Ryan Niblett, alongside the additions of incoming freshmen Ryan Wingo, Freddie Dubose Jr., and Parker Livingstone.

But if Worthy and Mitchell do leave in combination with the the losses of Isaiah Neyor and Casey Cain to the portal, the Horns could have been dangerously thin at the position in 2024.

Now, with Golden in the fold, the position becomes much more stable.

Published Dec 20, 2023

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.