Matthew Golden injury: Texas WR leaves Cotton Bowl in second quarter

Texas wide receiver Matthew Golden left the Cotton Bowl Classic against Ohio State in the first half after suffering an injury to his left ankle. After receiving tape on both of his ankles in the injury tent, Golden returned to the game.

However, after Golden committed a face mask penalty, he left the game again and went to be evaluated further in the locker room, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Golden returned to the sideline later in the second quarter without his helmet.

Before leaving the game, Golden recorded one catch for 24 yards on Texas’ first drive of the game. Golden is the Longhorns’ leading receiver this season. He entered the game on Friday with 56 receptions in the 2024 campaign for a team-high 936 yards and nine touchdowns.

Matthew Golden has only improved down the stretch for the Longhorns. In Texas’ 39-31 double-overtime win over Arizona State last week, Golden tallied a game-high 149 receiving yards and a touchdown on just seven catches.

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Not to be outdone, Golden also had a standout showing in the SEC Championship against Georgia, hauling in eight catches for 162 rushing yards. Texas will hope to return the star wide receiver as soon as possible.

ESPN’s College GameDay crew surprises Nick Saban

Ahead of the Texas–Ohio State showdown on Friday, ESPN’s College GameDay crew surprised co-host Nick Saban by telling him he is being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Instead of gloating about the achievement, Saban immediately praised all the coaches and players who helped him along the way.

“Anytime anything like this happens, it’s because you had a lot of great people in your organization,” Saban said. “A lot of great players, a lot of great coaches, a lot of support staff, and they made a great team. And I was happy to drive the bus, but we had some great people on it. So thank you so much.”

If anybody deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame, it’s Saban. The college football icon coached for over half a century and won seven national titles as a head coach, the most by any college coach ever. Saban won all but one of those national titles during his 17 seasons as Alabama‘s head coach. He won the other at LSU in 2003.

Nick Saban is the fifth Alabama coach to be elected to the College Football Hall of Fame and the 27th inductee in program history. The 2025 class will be officially inducted during the 67th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on December 9, 2025, at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.