Texas Football: 5 key recruits impressed by UT’s blowout win vs. TTU
The regular season finale win for No. 7 Texas football and head coach Steve Sarkisian over head coach Joey McGuire and the Texas Tech Red Raiders at DKR in Austin on Nov. 24 drew a big group of visiting recruits to the Forty Acres. Texas hosted roughly five dozen visiting recruits from the 2024, 2025, and 2026 classes for the massive 50-point win over Texas Tech at home on Black Friday.
This was a larger group of visiting recruits for the Texas Tech game than was initially expected earlier in the week. But it turned out to be a fantastic showing for the Longhorns to prove that this program is headed in the right direction before leaving the Big 12 for the SEC in 2024.
Key visiting recruits impressed by Texas football’s enormous 50-point win over Texas Tech
Texas couldn’t have made a bigger statement to the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, the Big 12, and top targets on the recruiting trail that were tuned in for the 57-7 win over the Red Raiders on Nov. 24. Sark and the Longhorns steamrolled the Red Raiders.
And the atmosphere at DKR couldn’t have been any better for a Black Friday primetime game. The crowd was energized through the final whistle in the regular season finale against Tech.
Here are five key visiting recruits for the Longhorns impressed by the decimation of Texas Tech on Nov. 24.
Xavier Ukponu, DL
3-Star 2025 DL Xavier Ukponu showing off the atmosphere at DKR during his visit to Texas for the dominant win over Texas Tech tonight! pic.twitter.com/d4gswMkpZo
— Hook'em Headlines (@HookemHeadlines) November 25, 2023
For the first time since the Week 5 win over the No. 24 Kansas Jayhawks at DKR, the big 6-foot-2 and 270-pound three-star Denton (TX) Guyer defensive lineman Xavier Ukponu unofficially visited Texas for a gameday. Ukponu has visited Texas unofficially multiple times this year, including for the Texas Tech game on Black Friday.
He showed off the insane atmosphere at DKR with the crowd and the lights in a post on his Instagram story during his visit for the Texas Tech game.
Hookem🤘🏿@CoachSark @CoachBoUT @TexasFootball pic.twitter.com/I2udcjQ8PP
— Xavier “❌”Ukponu (@XUkponu) October 1, 2023
Texas is one of the schools Ukponu likes early in his recruitment. The Longhorns were one of the early Power Five schools to offer him in late January 2023. Ukponu has also visited Texas unofficially more times this year than any other school that’s offered him.
Texas defensive line coach Bo Davis and Ukponu have a great relationship, and the rising DL recruit from North Texas likes the fit for him along the Longhorns’ defensive line.