Matthew Golden came into 2023 looking to build on a strong freshman season while stepping up to fill the void left by Nathaniel Dell. But it did not begin as planned.

the daily #88 | 10/27/2023 | Archives
Golden dropped six passes against 13 catches through the first three games. That was jarring.

He did not have this problem in his freshman year. He was a reliable target (38 receptions, four drops (90.5% success rate) and made big catches. But the weird start in September had a lot of people wondering what happened. How did he take such a big step back? Fortunately, the answer was simple. He didn’t take a step back but was a young guy with big expectations, trying to do too much.

The following two plays in the TCU game are perfect examples. The first was the classic “run before you catch it” scenario. Everyone wants to make a play and move the chains, but sometimes, young players don’t finish the act of the catch before trying to get downfield.

You can have great concentration through the ball hits your fingers, but it’s not enough.

The second play was similar, but Golden thought he had a step and would make a big-time play. Like, dash to the end zone and play the fight song. But he let the ball get too deep and didn’t bring it in.

Golden used poor technique, and his hands were beneath the ball when it got past his eyes. That’s not a recipe for success. Usually, In reality, it’s a concentration issue.

“I think he is pressing,” Dana Holgorsen said. Matt is a great player; we all know that. He has made plays. He’s a good player, and he is trying hard. It’s not practice habits, it’s not effort, it’s not attitude, it’s not any of that. The dude wants to be so good, so bad, that he presses. He has this, he just needs to calm down and let the game come to him. He feels like he needs to make every play. He feels like he can make every play. And so, when you do that, you press, and that’s what I see with dropped balls.”

I disagree with Dana often, but he was dead on right here. There was nothing wrong with Golden from a fundamental perspective. Golden’s issues were just a guy trying to do too much too soon. I can relate to this because I have done the same things as a player. You want to do well and are pressing and trying to do too much too fast. You end up spinning out of control.

It’s easy to double down and keep pressing harder in this situation. But that is not what has happened with Matthew Golden. He has done precisely what Dana talked about in that press conference: he calmed down and has let the game come to him.

Since the TCU game, Golden has had 22 catches with 0 drops. That’s the Matthew Golden we expected to see. Saturday against Texas was his moment on the big stage, and he delivered. He made seven catches for 88 yards and two touchdowns.

Catches like the one below aren’t surprising coming from him. Even when he was struggling early, he was still making spectacular plays.

He was struggling with more straightforward catches. That isn’t a problem now, and especially not against Texas.

No play exemplifies his progression this season and letting the game come to him more than his catch on 4th and 2.

Making the simple catch was nice, but what he did to get to that point excited me. He recognized zone coverage, found the soft spot in the zone, sat calmly, and mirrored his QB’s actions, rolling out to make himself available to make the catch.

Golden isolated on 4th and 2:

I love watching players progress over their careers. But it is even more satisfying to watch a young player succeed, hit a rough patch, and make adjustments to take a big step forward, even with something simple like this.

Matthew Golden has elite-level potential and has only scratched the surface. If he can keep fighting through difficulties like he has this year, then he will develop into a special player.