Tag: Ochaun Mathis

Who are the most talented transfers entering the 2022 season?

Who are the most talented players to switch teams during the offseason?

Outside of conference realignment, the transfer portal has been a topic of conversation in college football. A system that once heavily restricted the ability of athletes to change schools has now become a world where athletes can leave their current school without penalty, and some coaches are even accused of actively recruiting other schools’ scholarship athletes. And one of the more aggressive teams in the 2022 transfer portal was the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

In fact, 247Sports ranked the Huskers as having the No. 7 portal class sandwiched between No. 6 Alabama and No. 8 UCLA. Nebraska ended up adding 16 new players overall to their roster heading into this year. The two biggest stars of the class are former Arizona State Corner Back Tommi Hill and former TCU Edge Rusher Ochaun Mathis. Did either of these two make the list of the “most talented transfers entering 2022?” Scroll below and take a look at who author Brad Crawford says are the most talented transfers of the upcoming season.

Top 25 Pass Rushers ranked by “Godfather of Recruiting”

A Husker made the list but where?

In 2021 the Nebraska Cornhuskers were one of the worst pass-rushing teams in the entire country. In 12 games, the team ranked 98th overall and only had 20 total sacks on the season for an average of 1.67 sacks a game. They were tied with those other elite pass-rushing units along with Boston College, Georgia Tech, Louisiana Tech, Texas, and Washington.

A new list by the “Godfather of Recruiting” Mike Farrell of MikeFerrellSports.com recently ranked the Top 50 pass rushers in college football. One Husker has made the list and is placed in the Top 25, so we here at Cornhuskerwire have listed the Top 25 pass rushers in college football headed into 2021.

Nebraska used the transfer portal and “Name, Image, and Likeness” to improve their pass rush heading into the 2022 season. We’ll find out on August 27th if those offseason moves have made the difference or if the struggles from 2021 will continue into this season. Only time will tell.

Scroll below to look at the Top 25 and find out where the one Husker (you’ve probably figured out which one) is ranked.

Nebraska EDGE Named to Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List

A Nebraska Cornhuskers EDGE was named to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy preseason watch list.

On July 26, Nebraska Cornhuskers edge rusher Ochaun Mathis was named to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy preseason watch list. Recent winners of the Bronko Nagurski Trophy have included Zaven Collins, Chase Young, and Bradley Chubb.

Ndamukong Suh is the only Nebraska player to win the trophy. He won it in 2009.

Mathis transferred from TCU to Nebraska this offseason. At TCU, he played at an extremely high level. In 2020, he had eight sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss in 10 games.

Mathis was a second-team All-Big 12 selection in 2020 and 2021. He was also an Honorable-Mention Big-12 Defensive Lineman of the Year in 2020.

Mathis seems primed for a big season for the Cornhuskers.

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Iowa Hawkeyes 2022 schedule breakdown: Nebraska

What players do Iowa fans need to know about for the Hawkeyes’ regular-season finale against the Cornhuskers from inside Kinnick Stadium?

Here it is, the last game of the season! Hopefully, Iowa is standing at an 11-0 record with upsets over Ohio State and Michigan and the Cornhuskers represent their last stop before the Big Ten Championship… and then the national championship. Whether or not this is indeed the reality (we can certainly hope), Nebraska is a heck of a game to end the season on.

The Cornhuskers are an extremely interesting team with how they are portrayed in the media. Many have called Nebraska the greatest three-win team in college football history and suggesting that they were much better than their 2021 record suggested. If a few possessions swung the other way, Nebraska could have finished as one of the best teams in the conference!

At the end of the day, though, the Cornhuskers were still a 3-9 team last year, and coach Scott Frost is on the hottest of hot seats. As many have pointed out, Nebraska is a tough out. They gave multiple top teams a tough fight last year, including both Michigan and Michigan State. They feature a sturdy defense and hope the offense takes a step forward in 2022.

247Sports’ Nick Kosko predicts Nebraska to upset Iowa in the 2022 season finale

247Sports’ Nick Kosko likes the Nebraska Cornhuskers to upset the Iowa Hawkeyes in the 2022 regular season finale.

Iowa has owned the series against Nebraska, winning the past seven contests against the Cornhuskers. It looked like the Hawkeyes’ dominance over Nebraska was set to come to a close last year in Lincoln, Neb., but a fourth-quarter Iowa rally was jumpstarted by Henry Marchese’s blocked punt that Kyler Fisher returned 14 yards for a touchdown.

That sliced Iowa’s deficit from 21-9 to 21-16. The Hawkeyes followed that special teams game-changer up by forcing Huskers backup quarterback Logan Smothers into an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone for a safety. Iowa’s Caleb Shudak added a 44-yard field goal on the ensuing possession and suddenly the game was tied.

Then, Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras capped off a six-play, 76-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown plunge to give the Hawkeyes its first lead with 2:58 remaining. Hawkeyes cornerback Jermari Harris sealed the victory, intercepting Smothers to end any final threat from the Huskers.

In the process, Iowa registered its fifth consecutive victory in Lincoln, captured the Big Ten West crown and notched a 10-win season. 247Sports’ Nick Kosko isn’t buying into any of the recent series history in his game-by-game predictions for Nebraska’s 2022 season, though.

Kosko likes Nebraska to upset Iowa, 24-21, to end the 2022 regular season.

Yes, we’re picking an upset here. Nebraska puts a stamp on its bowl game date, whenever and wherever it might be. The upset over the Hawkeyes on the road will be the defining game of the 2022 season for Scott Frost. There’s gotta be one in there somewhere, and why not the final regular season game of the upcoming fall? Let’s do it. A late field goal puts Nebraska up by 10 (24-14) and the defense holds on as Iowa fails a late comeback. With the 7-5 record, Frost ensures a 2023 campaign and has a chance to win an eighth game in the postseason. – Kosko, 247Sports.

Obviously, this would be a reversal of what fans have seen in recent years. There’s a good chance that it has serious division implications for the Hawkeyes, too. The West feels like it’s wide open, and Iowa just might be hosting Nebraska for a return trip to Indianapolis in the 2022 edition to determine the fate of the Heroes Trophy.

If that’s the circumstances going in for Iowa’s Senior Day game, then the Huskers will have earned a difficult to come by victory, and it would further signal that Nebraska has made progress as a football program in 2022.

While Iowa is an interesting team heading into next season given the disparity between the team’s offensive and defensive production in 2021, Nebraska might have been the most intriguing, hardest to figure out team in all of the Big Ten last season. The Huskers finished 3-9, which is by definition bad. Still, Nebraska lost eight one-score games, which could indicate that the Huskers are ripe for a quick turnaround.

Time will tell on that front. One thing is for certain: Scott Frost needs 2022 to show tangible results if he’s to remain the Huskers’ head football coach. Frost brought in offensive coordinator Mark Whipple from Pittsburgh to help try and rejuvenate Nebraska’s offense. Last season’s backup quarterback in Smothers returns for Nebraska, but longtime starter Adrian Martinez is off to Kansas State.

Nebraska went ahead and brought former Texas quarterback Casey Thompson in to be the likely starter, and the Huskers added Florida State transfer signal-caller Chubba Purdy as well. The wide receiving corps features a series of transfers as well with Trey Palmer arriving from LSU, Marcus Washington from Texas and Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda from New Mexico State.

Palmer had 30 grabs for 344 yards and three scores in 2021, Washington registered 18 receptions for 277 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Garcia-Castaneda hauled in 37 passes for 578 yards and four scores. Add that in with Omar Manning’s returning 26 grabs for 380 yards and two touchdowns.

In the backfield, Nebraska will be looking for Rahmir Johnson, Gabe Ervin Jr. and Jaquez Yant to combine for the Huskers’ rushing attack. Last season, Johnson carried 112 times for 495 yards and four scores, Ervin Jr. rushed 37 times for 124 yards and two touchdowns and Yant tallied 47 totes for 294 yards and one trip to the end zone.

Defensively, Nebraska added two-time All-Big 12 second-team selection Ochaun Mathis at defensive end. Mathis has 135 tackles, 30.5 tackles for loss and 15.5 sacks over the course of his college career. He’ll team with Garrett Nelson, Ty Robinson and Alabama transfer Stephon Wynn Jr. At the second level, Nebraska linebackers Luke Reimer and Nick Henrich combined for 189 tackles last season.

The Huskers’ defensive backfield has its fair share of transfer additions as well, featuring Tommi Hill from Arizona State, DeShon Singleton from Hutchinson Community College and Omar Brown from Northern Iowa. That trio will join safety Myles Farmer and cornerback Quinton Newsome.

For a head coach in Frost that frankly is desperate for success heading into 2022, it makes sense to replenish the roster with a series of transfer portal additions and see if it works. While Iowa hopes to be fighting for the Big Ten West in the season finale, Frost just might be coaching for his job.

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Did Nebraska get any of the top transfers in college football for 2022?

Looking at some of the top transfers for 2022!!

Last month, USA Today put out a list of top college football transfers for the upcoming 2022 season. Nebraska was active in the portal and brought in over a dozen players but did the Cornhuskers bring in anyone who can crack this list? With the season less than 100 days away, we’ll soon see with our own eyes which the best of the transfers were and weren’t. Transfers for the last several weeks won’t appear on the list, so you know why if you don’t see names like Biletnikoff Award winner Jordan Addison.

Enjoy the chaos, college football fans. With all the coaches making noise about the portal this offseason, I imagine we will see some changes. I would not be shocked to see the transfer portal have a dedicated window of dates where players can transfer without penalty but any transfers outside that window, and you’ll have to sit out a season, but that’s just my conjecture.

EDGE transfer Isaiah Land will return to FAMU

Another miss for Texas on the defensive side of the ball.

While Texas has been making noise on the offensive side of the ball via the transfer portal, they are not finding much success on the defensive side. Continue reading “EDGE transfer Isaiah Land will return to FAMU”

Huskers add another impact player from the portal

More depth coming to the Huskers defensive line.

One week ago, I described the Nebraska defensive as a group “thin on bodies and talent.” What a difference a week can make. Following the signing of Ochaun Mathis, the Nebraska Cornhuskers have landed another potential impact player from the transfer portal. Devin Drew, formerly of the Texas Tech Red Raiders, announced on Tuesday that he has committed to Huskers. The Kansas City, Missouri native played in 12 games last year, recording 34 total tackles. Nebraska has been looking for interior defensive line help, and Drew can provide that. He should complement the Husker’s pass rushers nicely.  Drew has a more oversized frame at 6”2’ and 280 pounds and will hopefully be able to keep the interior offense lineman from helping tackles with the pass rush. He should also help provide space for the linebackers by preventing the OL from reaching the second level.

Two big transfers in the span of a week shows the aggressive nature of the Husker’s recruiting and a willingness to embrace players from the transfer portal when other schools have not. Something tells me this won’t be the last transfer this summer. 

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FAMU EDGE transfer Isaiah Land is an absolute need for Texas

Isaiah Land may be Texas’ final opportunity to add a proven pass rusher.

After missing out on TCU transfer Ochaun Mathis, all hopes for Texas to land an experienced pass rusher were seemingly lost. Continue reading “FAMU EDGE transfer Isaiah Land is an absolute need for Texas”

Social Media Reaction: Mathis Picks Nebraska

Social media had some wild reactions to the Ochaun Mathis to Nebraska news!!

Transfer portal pass rusher Ochaun Mathis has committed to the Nebraska Cornhuskers for the upcoming 2022 season. He chose the Huskers over the Texas Longhorns. Social media had a variety of reactions once the news was made public, and rest assured, there will be a lot of opinions about this announcement over the next several days.