Texas A&M fans got a huge punch in the gut yesterday on the recruiting front when their top-ranked commitment, offensive tackle Mark Matthews, backed off of his longtime commitment to the Aggies. He had been a ringleader of the class, not only being very vocal about his confidence in the Elko Era, but also due to the simple fact that he was a very highly-rated player whose status served to draw other players in.
Given that he is located so close to Miami, and the fact that the Hurricanes were the reported runner-up to the Aggies for his initial commitment, most thought he would end up defecting to Mario Cristobal's program pretty quickly. Well, he's now announced his new commitment— but it's worse than Aggie fans thought.
Matthews announced today that he has committed to the Georgia Bulldogs, stunning fans across the board. Even recruiting insiders were somewhat caught off guard, as Steve Wiltfong of Rivals had initially predicted that Matthews would be heading to Miami before changing his pick at the last second.
Mark Matthews' Georgia commitment just took things from bad for Texas A&M to worse
It's not a surprise, in many ways, that Matthews ended up committing to the Bulldogs instead of the Canes. Miami reportedly always had a bigger offer on the table for his services, so this was never a pure money decision for him— he clearly valued playing time and program direction (both of which were huge pluses for the Aggies before the season), and wasn't afraid to leave the Miami area.
Unfortunately for the Aggies, however, this is a worse outcome than if Matthews had decided to go with the Canes, as many had expected. Texas A&M is set to play Georgia twice in the next three years, so that means— barring a transfer out from Kirby Smart's program— they'll have to face the former Texas A&M commit two times in his college career.
If Matthews had simply gone to Miami, the Aggies would only have had to play him in a postseason scenario, and the chances of that happening were not exactly great. The Aggies and Hurricanes would have had to be matched up in a bowl or the Playoff, and while both are teams with the resources to threaten for a CFP berth every year (especially with the upcoming expansion), there's nothing close to a guarantee that they'll be squaring off even if both are in the field.
The matchups with the Bulldogs are firmly fixed on the Aggies' schedule, however. They'll host Georgia in Kyle Field in this upcoming 2027 season, which will no doubt be one of the biggest games of the year, before heading to Athens in 2029.
Again assuming his development goes as expected and he sticks around in Athens, Matthews will likely be one of the biggest names for the NFL draft among offensive linemen at that point. With his skillset, honestly, he could be already getting very early draft buzz by the time the Dawgs visit Kyle Field next year.
This just further underscores what a disaster scenario this is for the Aggies. Mike Elko and this staff need to do everything they can to keep the rest of this class together, but this is already a huge blow.
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