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Starting a quick tracker of the portal entries we see start to file in with the turn of the calendar to December. Signing day will garner a lot of excitement, but these will be some names to keep an eye on in the ever-changing landscape of college football.

Monday is the first day of the NCAA Transfer Portal window officially being open. With that said, two Longhorns from the 2024 roster have announced they will be entering the portal today. This thread will be used to follow the movement of other portal entrants from the Texas roster as the day and week progresses. *** As of Dec. 16 at 4:50 p.m.

Portal Note USC transfers Zachariah and Zion Branch are visiting Georgia, and are also currently expected at Arizona State this weekend at some point. Texas is a visit possibility as well, but a key with this portal recruitment will be where the family sees Zion's fit at the same school - barring a major change. Oregon is also on the list, somewhere. Zachariah Branch wants his brother taken care of from an NIL perspective, so there are some layers to this programs will have to make decisions on.

Texas needs defensive linemen out of the portal. It does not take a rocket scientist to see that. Yet, with ten days remaining before the end of the first portal session, there has only been on addition to the position thus far. Texas would like to add four in total following the re-entrance of Sydir Mitchell on Monday. But that does not mean the Longhorns are going to overreach for a body at the position. Every player we have seen the Longhorns add out of the portal on the DL has experience and production, something that is very tough to find in general. All in all, you don't see Texas pursuing many unproven, yet high-ceiling, prospects. The track record under Sarkisian of defensive line portal additions showcases the patience and right fit needed before Texas pursues someone from another program. *** A look at the snaps played before transferring to Texas from the five defensive linemen the Longhorns have added out of the portal under Steve Sarkisian. 2023 season: Trill Carter – 1,169 Carter played four years before entering the portal, with three seasons as full time contributor or starter. Four years of experience. 2024 season: Jermayne Lole – 1,824 Lole was a three-yard contributor/starter at Arizona State before transferring to Louisville where he was injured in 2022 and rebounded back for 2023 with 411 snaps. Four full years of experience on the field for Lole and more than 1800 snaps led to the Longhorns flipping him late from Oklahoma. Four years of experience. Tia Savea – 624 Savea has not been a huge contributor for the Longhorns however, he came in with three years of experience both at UCLA and Arizona. Three years of experience. Bill Norton – 539 Norton was a five year portal entrant with experience at Georgia and Arizona. Really only one year of extended contributions with 395 snaps coming in 2023 at Arizona. But at 330 pounds, you don't find many in the portal with that frame. Five years of experience. 2025 season: Cole Brevard – 1,084 Brevard started at Penn State, but 1,083 of his 1,084 snaps came at Purdue. Brevard started 23 games over the last two seasons for the Boilermakers and has a combined 800+ snaps in the last two seasons. Four years of experience. *** It is clear Texas isn't going to go into a season with young, inexperienced defensive linemen. The key is finding those that fit the veteran, proven mold of the previous five additions. Even the misses last year, Jay Toia had 961 snaps before last year and Damonic Williams racked up 1,088 snaps in two seasons at TCU. We will more than likely see this trend continue, it is just up to the Longhorn staff to find the right fit given the prerequisites.

A source has indicated that Georgia Tech WR transfer Eric Singleton Jr. attended practice with the Longhorns as part of his visit to campus Tuesday afternoon. The Longhorns were in shells (shoulder pads and helmets) today for their Tuesday work out ahead of their College Football Playoff meeting with Clemson on Saturday. Singleton arrived on campus early Tuesday and will head out Wednesday morning. The source also expressed a lot of confidence in Texas' chances when it comes to landing the 10.3 speedster. Singleton has visited Ole Miss and Miami thus far, with a top five also consisting of Auburn and LSU. With some attention being directed towards former USC WR Zachariah Branch this afternoon, my understanding is adding Singleton is the highest priority at the moment at the WR position.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian will be talking with the media Monday morning to discuss the Clemson Tigers and the College Football Playoff. There will be players both before and after available to the media as well. We will have updates in the comments down below.

Two portal RB's ... There have been questions if the Longhorns would have interest in a running back out of the portal. OnTexasFootball can say that both USC (Manor High) transfer Quentin Joyner and Alabama transfer Justice Haynes have been in contact with Texas per a solid source. That doesn't mean that Texas is for sure pushing for a RB out of the portal, but Tashard Choice and Steve Sarkisian are at least entertaining the idea. Ohio State and Oregon are among those interested in both, as well. Joyner has visited Ohio State. Haynes also has Ole Miss, South Carolina and Michigan on the list. Ole Miss and South Carolina will receive visits this week.

Klare wrapped up his visit to Austin late Friday and has since made his way over to College Station for a visit with A&M. There was perhaps some hope that Klare would lock this portal recruitment down after the trip, but that obviously is not the case and a trip to Oregon has become more of a possibility since his departure from Austin. Texas did a great job getting the early visit for Klare, whose stock has only risen since entering the portal. To finish the job, Texas will need to play the game of portal recruiting and NIL, as Klare and his camp know he is the top-rated tight end in the portal and will have his pick of where he plays football in 2025. The Longhorns will have to wait a bit on a decision from Klare, but they are in the thick of it now.

A few notes on Clemson Clemson is a 10-3 ACC Championship team coming to Austin December 21. A deeper dive against the top 5 teams they have played tells a different story, however. Clemson P4 opponents winning % ... Georgia 11-2 NC State 6-6 Stanford 3-9 FSU 2-10 Virginia 5-7 Wake Forest 4-8 Pittsburgh 7-5 Virginia Tech 6-6 Louisville 8-4 South Carolina 9-3 SMU 11-2 Total = 72-60 Clemson's record vs. the teams with an 8-4 record or better on the schedule... 1-3. Losses to Georgia (34-3), Louisville (33-21), South Carolina (17-14) and beat SMU 34-31. Averaged 18.0 points per game in those four games. Clemson has struggled running the ball vs. top 5 opponents played... Clemson has played 5 teams with a 7-5 or better record, and the Tigers have struggled to run the ball. Georgia - Phil Mafah 16 carries for 59 yards Pittsburgh - Mafah 17 carries for 17 yards Louisville - Mafah 30 for 171 yards and 2 TD's South Carolina - Mafah 20 for 66 yards SMU - Mafah 13 for 28 yards Total = 99 for 342 (3.45 per carry) Mafah will also enter the game vs. Texas with a shoulder that is less than 100%. He's banged up per a source in the Palmetto State. Clemson defense vs. the top 5 opponents on the schedule... Georgia - 447 yards Pittsburgh - 438 yards Louisville - 366 yards South Carolina - 431 yards SMU - 458 yards Average = 428 yards per game

A few nuggets to pass along: *** Texas has been kicking the tires on former Arkansas LB Brad 'Greedy' Spence out of the transfer portal as of recently. The former four-star linebacker from Klein Forest High School in Houston entered the portal earlier in the week and I have learned that the Longhorns could be looking at Spence as an option out of the portal. Texas recruited Spence a good bit during the 2023 class, though never got to the point of an official visit. Spence should be on visit watch for the weekend from what I have gathered so far. *** On the note of Texas adding a punter – Bobby Burton added the nugget this morning that Texas was able to get former P Michael Dickson on the phone yesterday with Utah portal P Jack Bouwmeester, a cool piece of recruiting behind the scenes. I was told the visit went well on Saturday and that there is momentum here. I am hopeful to go fully in depth about the visit details, say... early afternoon today. *** As our @Gerry Hamilton has reported earlier in the week, Texas is expecting a visit by Purdue portal DL Cole Brevard. Brevard was at SMU on Thursday and made the trip down south for the Texas visit soon thereafter. The magic number remains 4 at the defensive line position, even with the pending return of DL Sydir Mitchell out of the portal I am told. Texas will go big game hunting here, but Brevard is certainly a good start to begin the hunt.

Texas is set to have 10+ players selected at the NFL Draft for the second consecutive year this spring. But before that becomes a reality, the Longhorns will send their draft hopefuls to Senior Bowl games both in Frisco, Texas for the East-West Shrine Bowl and Birmingham, Alabama for the Reese's Senior Bowl. I wanted to get a thread dedicated to the Longhorns who have committed to each bowl game and where they will be playing. *** Reese's Senior Bowl TE Gunnar Helm – accepted Dec. 13 EDGE Barryn Sorrell – accepted Dec. 11

Tramon Mark update The Texas Longhorns have played the first four games without transfer guard Tramon Mark. Mark, 6-foot-5, has been rehabbing a sprained ankle suffered before the Colorado scrimmage October 26. OTF was informed Tuesday mid-morning that Mark's return could be as early as Thursday. Texas is "Very hopeful" that Mark will play his first game as a Longhorn Thursday against Syracuse at 6pm CST on ESPN2. The Longhorns will play either St. Joe's or Texas Tech on Friday, November 22. OTF will say it's a game time decision, but he progressing on schedule for a return to the court as early as Thursday. Tramon Mark by the numbers 2023-24 at Arkansas: 16.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists. He connected on 36.4% from three. 2022-23 at Houston: 10.1 ppg, 4.9 rebs and 1.8 assists 2021-22 at Houston: 10.1 ppg, 2.4 rebs and 2.4 assists 2020-21 at Houston: 7.8 ppg, 3.0 rebs and 1.7 assists Mark is a career 42.4% shooter in 107 games, including 32.0% (99 makes) from three, and 79.6% from the foul line.

The biggest issue for me on Saturday was the lack of positive plays on 1st and 2nd down, which came as a direct result of the lack of running game and costly penalties that kept the Longhorns behind the sticks. The numbers are awfully ugly when diving into it for the Texas offense. Texas had 18 3rd down snaps of offensive on Saturday vs. Georgia. 10 needed 9+ yards to convert The average distance was 11.6 yards only 4 were 3rd & short (1-4 yards) Quinn Ewers was 9-15 passing for 178 yards, but with two INTs. Those INT came on 3rd & 17 and 3rd & 9. Texas threw the ball on 16 of their 18 snaps on third downs, taking one sack in the process and obviously throwing the two interceptions that were mentioned above. Both interceptions came on comeback routes to the right side of the field. In comparison, let's take a look at the Georgia offensive output on third downs: Of Georgia's 15 third down snaps against the Texas defense: 3rd & short: 5-8 3rd & long: 0-2 average distance to go: 5.3 Say what you want about their offensive outputs on Saturday, but Georgia consistently was able to live near the first down marker on third downs. *** A look at third downs in the high-red area for the Texas offense. (from Georgia's 25-yard line and in) 3rd & 5 – incomplete to Moore 3rd & 10 – Ewers sacked 3rd & 6 – dropped by Wingo 3rd & 5 – pass complete for 6 yards to Moore 3rd & 5 – pass complete for 6 yards to Wingo (Overtime) 3rd & 10 – pass complete for -1 yards to Wisner (Overtime) Tough to win games against a great pass rush when you constantly are put in positions where you are forced to throw the ball and gained a lot of yards on a single play. This was the ultimate achilles heel in my eyes.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is on the podium to discuss the loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game.

Texas has suffered its second portal casualty of the 2024 season. Longhorn DL Jaray Bledsoe is expected to test the waters of college football free agency, 247Sports' Matt Zenitz the first to report. Bledsoe saw time in three games this season, accumulating 16 snaps for the Longhorns in 2024.

And Texas makes the cut. The Longhorns join the offensive lines of Oregon and Army as the finalists for the Joe Moore Award as well. Quite the accomplishment and as we all know, the job is not done yet.

Couple of late night nuggets * Continue to feel good on 4-star++ ATH Michael Terry *5-star OT Michael Fasusi 60% signing with OU tomorrow. If Bedenbaugh doesn’t end up being retained, could be an issue for the Sooners. Fasusi talked with both OU and Texas more than once today. * Continue to feel good on 4-star LB Kellen Wiley *Still a prospect committed elsewhere that is in play for Texas.

Late lunchtime notes *Texas remains confident on 4-star++ athlete Michael Terry III (San Antonio, Texas/Alamo Heights) *Less turbulence with the recruitment of 4-star++ defensive line commit Myron Charles (Port Charlotte, Fla./High). Same with Josiah Sharma (Folsom, Calif./High). But we are also not going to put head in the sand. *There is another prospect out there committed to another school that Texas is trying to make a late run at. Not trying to be a tease, but we aren't releasing the name yet - like this morning we didn't. *One other Texas commit is being pursued by blue blood. Waiting to see if there are any true legs to a potential flip before putting a name out there for no reason. *Texas feels like they are in it for Justus Terry (Manchester, Ga./High). No change from this AM.

Another recruiting note Fasten your seatbelt, there is going to be turbulence leading up to Wednesday. The Joseph Mbatchou flip will not be the last commitment Texas loses in this cycle. I'm not going to say the who because it's the prospects news to drop, but it is 100% happening. I'll also say this ... There are a couple of positive developments happening as well. #GirdUpYourLoins

Texas did a fine job of managing the football game on Saturday against Texas A&M on the road in a hostile environment. With that said, they were able to own the time of possession in their favor as well. Texas: 34:38 Texas A&M: 25:22 Texas has ran 81 plays on the evening offensively, 50 of which were running plays. A look at the snap counts: *** Offensive Snap Counts Out of 81 possible snaps. 81 – Cam Williams, Hayden Conner, Jake Majors, Gunnar Helm 78 – Quinn Ewers 74 – Trevor Goosby 70 – Matthew Golden 67 – Quintrevion Wisner 66 – DJ Campbell 44 – Ryan Wingo 40 – DeAndre Moore, Isaiah Bond 33 – Juan Davis 16 – Jaydon Blue 15 – Cole Hutson 8 – Silas Bolden 5 – Amari Niblack – Most snaps of the season for Matthew Golden, he is the clear No. 1 in the circle of trust. He runs the right routes, he is on time, he is as reliable as they get. – 74 snaps for Trevor Goosby after stepping in for Kelvin Banks. Zero sacks, zero pressures, no holdings. Tremendous for 74. – That is a heck of a work load for Wisner. Keep in a green jersey until Atlanta in my opinion. *** Defensive Snap Count Out of a possible 58 snaps. 58 – Anthony Hill Jr. 57 – Malik Muhammad 55 – Jahdae Barron, Michael Taaffe 49 – Jaylon Guilbeau 40 – Trey Moore 38 – Barryn Sorrell 35 – Colin Simmons, Vernon Broughton 34 – Alfred Collins 32 – Jelani McDonald 30 – Liona Lefau 29 – Andrew Mukuba 24 – Jermayne Lole 21 – Ethan Burke 18 – Bill Norton 9 – David Gbenda 7 – Morice Blackwell Jr. 6 – Gavin Holmes, TyAnthony Smith – It isn't the highest snap count for Trey Moore, but it is the highest snap volume of the season. 40 of the 58 snaps and he played till the final whistle, coming up with the strip sack on the final play of the game defensively. – Guilbeau was nails. – Liona Lefau and Ethan Burke each had very impactful moments despite relatively low snap counts. – Bill Norton deserves recognition for his goal line and short distance performances as well. He was very good.

Note on Javion Hilson Texas A&M has/is making a big, big late run at 4-star++ EDGE Javion Hilson (Cocoa, Fla./High).

Both Kirby Smart and Steve Sarkisian will speak for roughly 20 minutes or so with SEC reporters in regards to the SEC Championship Game and what is at stake as the postseason begins. The Longhorns and Bulldogs will face off in Atlanta on December 7th.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is on the podium this morning to discuss the final bits of the Texas-Texas A&M game, as well as the upcoming SEC Championship Game featuring Texas-Georgia part II. The Longhorns will be the home team for the SEC Title Game which will kickoff at 3:00 p.m. CST on Saturday in Atlanta. Notes and quotes in the comments below.

The game is finally here. For 13 years we were robbed of this game, and now it returns in all of its glory. Texas and Texas A&M – the winner to the SEC Championship in Atlanta on December 7th. Let me start with this, the atmosphere is unbelievable. *** 1st Quarter Texas kicks off to begin the game. Touchback. Texas defense on the field first. A&M takes a vertical shot to Terry Bussey who gets lost in coverage on the second play of the game for a gain of 27. Barryn Sorrell jumps offsides on 3rd and 3 to move the chains. Cannot provide freebies in this game on the road. Can’t do it. A&M is finding a lot of space through the air right now, something I did not expect to be the case. Texas secondary and linebackers have to clean this up and force tight window throws. What a stop on 3rd and 4th down by the Texas defense! Huge momentum switch after the Aggies storm down the field with relative ease. Texas goes three and out. A double-move to start to Isaiah Bond who did not run very hard and then a miscommunication on a hurry-up look between Ewers and Helm and Texas punts the ball back to A&M. That was unbelievable by Michael Taaffe. Not just to get to the spot on the field, but to get a foot down in bounds. Wow! I did not have a 26-yard rush by Quinn Ewers on my bingo card and he was about six inches from going 70+ to the house. Kelvin Banks is down in pain. Trevor Goosby is already in the game. Okay! Texas is showing some life running the football at the moment. Tre Wisner with back to back runs of 22 and 11 yards. The run game is working right now. I would continue to pound the rock until A&M reacts and then the intermediate will come as a result. The screen game is not going to work tonight for the Longhorn offense. Elko has a pair of really smart LBs and they are waiting for it on every single snap. What a freakish turn this game has taken! 4th and 1, Texas opts to roll out Arch Manning for the snap and he takes a read option keeper 15-yards to the crib for the first touchdown. We had heard all week there was going to be some sort of Arch package this week and that’s a heck of a wrinkle to unveil on 4th down on the 2nd drive of the game. Texas leads 7–0. Texas defense has settled in a good bit. They are playing sound football on this third drive. A&M having to grind out all three downs to scratch the line to gain. End of 1st Quarter ••• Texas leads 7-0 Texas did a really nice job of settling in, quieting the crowd and playing their own style of ball which included ground and pound on the offensive side of the ball. Through one quarter, Texas is winning the LOS battle. Tremendous play by Vernon Broughton who was turned loose to bring down Marcel Reed for the first sack of the game. Brings up a lengthy third down and the Longhorn D gets off the field on a 3rd down screen attempt. Texas gets the ball back at the 20 after a touchback. That was an unbelievable window Ewers fit that pass to Helm in for the conversion on 3rd down. Heck of a snag, but man what a big play to move the chains and help flip some field. Jaydon Blue misses a block on a screen and then misses his assignment on a sack by Taurean York. He has to be better. That was an unbelievable throw by Quinn Ewers to Matthew Golden for 45 yards, maybe the best of the season there for No. 3. Elko has no answer for Arch Manning currently, just wasted a timeout. What a beauty of a catch by Jaydon Blue, maybe the best play he has made the entire season. After review, Blue has possession and gets a foot in bounds. What a throw and catch there. Huge play for the Texas offense to go up two scores. A stop here and the Longhorns can really run this up. Wooooo…. I thought that might have been a targeting call on Andrew Mukuba, but the officiating crew sees it differently. Three and out for the Texas defense, which has been spectacular. Quinn Ewers has been absolutely spectacular in this second quarter. He htis Ryan Wingo for a 35-yard gain and the Longhorns are into A&M territory. Another big time play for Ewers who evades pressure, hits a pump fake and Helm adds another hurdle to his tally. What a play. This has been a superb second quarter for Quinn Ewers. Texas A&M ran 10 plays for 33 yards on the final offensive possession before halftime, they have no vertical threats and no real attempts to stretch the field. Texas is sitting on everything and as a result, get another fourth down stop. Bert Auburn misses from 48. Long kick, but it’s adding to a lengthy list of miscues. *** Halftime ••• Texas Leads 17–0 *** Texas gets the ball to start the 2nd half. First play is a completion to Gunnar Helm on an easy pitch and catch for eight yards. A couple of first downs, but ultimately Texas fails to convert on 3rd down and punts. Punt went into the end zone, so really it was only a 25 yard punt. First rush attempt for the Texas A&M offense is the most successful of the night and the Aggies are out by midfield. Alfred Collins has been spectacular at batting passes at the line of scrimmage this year. Another one goes straight up in the air and should have been picked off by Barryn Sorrell. Aggies punt back to Texas with 10:38 in the 3rd quarter. Texas is storming right now down the field. The run game looks great, and finally there is some space for the screens after the catch. Moved right into the red zone and could put this out of reach. Annnnnddddddd – pick six. DJ Hicks bats the ball at the line of scrimmage and the Aggies go 93-yards to the house for the first points of their evening. Texas will need a strong answer here, this game should be out of reach and instead it is reviving the A&M fanbase. Texas needs a lengthy drive to settle things back down and it would be even better if they found the end zone. Tre Wisner has been spectacular (again) tonight. Now up to 141 rush yards and Texas is firmly into the red zone. Geez, man. Ewers scrambles on the outside and fumbles. Two consecutive turnovers on two drives in the red zone in this 3rd quarter. Texas has dominated, yet A&M is in a position to make this a one score game. Texas won the time of possession in the 3rd quarter 12:34 to 2:19, yet lost the scoring battle 7–0. *** 4th quarter *** Texas A&M has done just enough to move the ball here. Over midfield after the intermission. Liona Lefau has been spectacular tonight. A passed deflection and a forced fumble which Reed hopped back on. Maybe my player of the game tonight on defense. Andrew Mukuba! Another big time PBU to force a punt. Texas must take care of the football and they must take off some time with this drive. Tre Wisner now over 160 yards on the ground. Texas is trying to take off some time from the clock, yet back to back A&M defenders have gone down with injuries to delay that progress. There is no reason for there to be miscommunications between Ewers and Bond in this stage of the game. Just absolutely none. Ewers throws to the sticks. Bond runs ten yards, Incomplete. Next, Texas A&M blocks the punt and gets the ball immediately in the Longhorns red zone. Disaster upon us? We will see. I am running out of superlatives for this Texas defense. An unreal stop on the goal line leaves A&M without points and roughly 3:00 of the clock. Texas has the ball back just over 4:00 remaining and Elko has two timeouts left. Texas has closed out ballgames each of the last two weeks, none would be biggest than if they could do it tonight. 2:00 timeout. Texas was a first down from icing the ballgame. A&M has one final bit of life. Trey Moore! Strip sack! Texas is going to the SEC Championship Game for a rematch with Georgia. View full news story

Florida has flipped back 2025 defensive line commit Joseph Mbatchou from the Texas Longhorn 2025 class. The Longhorns had previously won the Mbatchou commitment just over a week ago on November 23rd, though it is the Gators who come in swinging to get the talented Georgia DL back into their class. Florida is going down swinging with their top remaining prospects and Texas will need to be on high alert for Jaime Ffrench and Myron Charles for the final hours of the ESD period. Texas is back down to 23 commits in the 2025 cycle.