The transfer portal continues to generate moves in the NCAAF, even now during crucial moments for the season’s conclusion. The Texas Longhorns, led by Steve Sarkisian, surprisingly lost one of their WRs this fall, who was a key piece alongside Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning. All signs point to his destination finally being Gainesville, where he would join Billy Napier’s Florida Gators.
Johntay Cook arrived at Texas in 2023 from DeSoto High School and, during his time with the Longhorns, became an important player on the offense. However, surprisingly, he decided to leave the program and, after several meetings, could end up with the Gators to help DJ Lagway have a great campaign next season.
The news was reported by Pete Nakos on On3’s, who made it clear that while nothing is confirmed, all signs point to Cook continuing in the SEC next year, specifically wearing the Florida Gators’ jersey.
“Coming off trips to Florida and Washington, the momentum sits with the Gators as Johntay Cook was able to spend one-on-one time with true freshman star DJ Lagway,” Nakos said. “I’ve logged a prediction for Cook to land in Gainesville.”
Johntay Cook II 1 of the Texas Longhorns warming up before the game vs the UL Monroe Warhawks at DKR-Memorial Stadium.
Cook ends his Longhorns career with just 16 catches for 273 yards and two touchdowns across two seasons. If his move to the Gators is confirmed, the WR will face his former team on October 4, 2025, in Gainesville.
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Sarkisian doesn’t want to repeat mistakes in the matchup against Arizona State
On January 1st, the team lead by Quinn Ewers will face the Arizona State Sun Devils in a Peach Bowl matchup. In this high-stakes game, head coach Steve Sarkisian knows they must minimize the margin for error following their recent games against Georgia and Clemson.
“We had a real come to Jesus meeting after the SEC Championship game when we essentially lost that game because of the penalties,” Sarkisian said to the press. “We just said we’re not going to do that anymore, and we’re going to play as clean football as we can play, as fundamentally-sound football as we can play. Still be aggressive. We never want to lose our stinger, we never want to lose our aggressiveness, but we can play smarter.“
“I critiqued one of the penalties that we got today, you can’t hit the quarterback late, and that was one of our two penalties Saturday,” Sarkisian said. “So we are continually trying to preach playing smarter football as well as playing hard and playing tough and playing physical. But quite frankly, that just came out of a come to Jesus meeting coming out of the SEC championship game.”
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian looks on during the first half of the college football game between the Texas A&M Aggies and the Texas Longhorns on November 30, 2024 in College Station, Texas.Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian looks on during the first half of the college football game between the Texas A&M Aggies and the Texas Longhorns on November 30, 2024 in College Station, Texas.
Zac Swanson seeks redemption against the Horns
When the Longhorns face the Sun Devils on January 1st, they will see many familiar faces on the opposing team. One of them is none other than Zac Swanson, who once wore the Texas colors and left the program under unfavorable circumstances.
When asked about the situation where Swanson will face his former team, he didn’t hold back in his response: “That’s my dream…That’s a team that kicked me out,” Swanson said. “They said if you want to stay at Texas, you might as well quit football and just go to school here. So, a lot of motivation there for me.”
Rather than wanting to confront, Sarkisian spoke to the press and expressed his happiness that his former players could be part of this great game: “For them to be in the quarterfinals of the CFP, I’m really happy for those guys,” Sarkisian said. “Our players were talking about it today, so and so, you know that name started popping up again today. I do think that’s the era of college football where we’re at now.”