Longhorns Country

Ochaun Mathis Reveals Exactly Why He Chose Nebraska Over Texas

Former Texas Longhorns target Ochaun Mathis is now off to the NFL this spring

Matt Galatzan

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The Texas Longhorns have utilized the transfer portal well under Steve Sarkisian in his three offseasons.  

Unfortunately for the Horns, they did miss out on a big one last off-season, with Ochaun Mathis announcing his intention to transfer to the Nebraska Cornhuskers instead of heading to Austin. 

On Wednesday at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Mathis revealed exactly why he chose the Huskers over the Horns.

And he wasn't shy about his comments.

“I had the idea to go to Texas at first," Mathis said. "I know I was Crystal balled to go there and stuff like that. I went there a few times. I feel like there was a lot of stuff that wasn’t being told in that situation - it was kind of just up in the air, a lot of the things. They didn’t seem as genuine as Nebraska."

Mathis was also intrigued by the possibility of playing in the Big 10, a conference that he perceived to be better than the Big 12.

"(Nebraska) felt like the right place to go to," Mathis said. "Especially going to a different conference, they say is a lot better than the other conference I played in - the Big 12 … I feel like it was better competition.”

Mathis had originally entered the transfer portal after the 2021 season following the exit of former head coach Gary Patterson and was immediately projected to land in Austin.

Instead, he joined former Longhorn Casey Thompson in Lincoln, having another productive season with 3.5 sacks, and a career-high 48 tackles.

The Huskers finished the season 4-8, while the Longhorns finished 8-5.

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Matt Galatzan
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.

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