Why Steve Sarkisian compared Matthew Golden first trick-play throw to 50 Cent’s infamous first pitch

The Longhorns had some fun with their “Good, Bad, and Ugly” segment during Monday morning’s team meeting.

AUSTIN, Texas — All week in preparation for the Cotton Bowl match against the Oklahoma Sooners, Texas Longhorns wide receiver Matthew Golden was, in his own words on Monday, “on point” with his throws on two trick plays devised by head coach Steve Sarkisian, who carried both on his play sheet in Dallas.

But there’s no way in practice to simulate 92,100 fans split down the middle of the Cotton Bowl.

“When we come to the game, it felt different. Obviously it was a lot of people there, my adrenaline was going,” Golden said in his first availability with the media since transferring from Houston over the offseason.

It was late in the second quarter with Texas leading 21-3 after Silas Bolden’s instantly immortal fumble recovery, two forced fumbles by the Longhorns defense in the next four plays the Sooners ran from scrimmage sandwiched around a 43-yard touchdown run by Quintrevion Wisner on the first Texas play from scrimmage after his fumble.

Trying to further consolidate the momentum just before halftime and in the shot zone after the fumble forced and recovered by safety Derek Williams prior to sustaining his season-ending injury to start the second half, Sarkisian dialed up a shot play from the Oklahoma 38-yard line, opting for a throwback pass to Golden with wide receiver Ryan Wingo as the downfield target, the play the offensive staff felt “way better” about heading into the game, according to Sarkisian.

With Wingo and wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. lined up wide to the field with Golden, the throw initially looks like a bubble screen with Moore blocking and Wingo faking the block before running a go route, but with the lateral from the quarterback, Golden’s legally able to throw the ball.

But as his adrenaline kicked in, his mechanics broke down and his throw was leaning and off balance, falling yards short of a wide-open Wingo, who had no shot of adjusting to it.

On Monday, Golden’s equipment officially took the blame.

“Man, I ain’t got too much to say about that. I’ll say it’s the gloves,” Golden said.

And, of course, Golden scapegoating his gloves didn’t save him from his teammates razzing him about the wounded duck he launched.

“They was on because they know I could throw the ball, but that was probably one of my worst passes,” Golden said.

Left tackle Kelvin Banks was still laughing about it on Monday, but with the Texas firmly in control of the game late, Sarkisian wanted to empty his call sheet of the trick play passes for Golden as a shot at redemption.

So with the Horns up 27-3 with 6:27 left in the fourth quarter following a turnover on downs by the Sooners at their own 32-yard line, Sarkisian called the other play for Golden, this time with his gloves off.

It’s 12 personnel for Texas with Golden to the boundary, along with tight end Juan Davis, the blocker for Golden while tight end Gunnar Helm leaks out down the seam from his in-line position.

Now more calm on the throw and with a better grip, Golden put the ball up for Helm to make the first contested catch of his Texas career against improved coverage by the Oklahoma secondary.

“The second one, I wanted to give him a chance to redeem himself a little bit, and I had a feeling they might cover it a little better, which they did, and was a heck of a catch by Gunnar Helm down there to the one,” Sarkisian said.

Unfortunately for Golden, redemption didn’t save him from the first throw ending up in the “Ugly” portion of Monday’s “Good, Bad, and Ugly” film session, with a little extra added by his head coach.

“But you know, again, both throws were in my ‘Good, Bad and Ugly tape this morning. And if anybody wants to know when I saw the throw, it reminded me of something — it reminded me of 50 Cent’s first pitch, and so we kind of kind of showed that after that throw to get a chuckle out of the guys,” Sarkisian said.

Now 10 years old, 50 Cent’s first pitch still lives in infamy with GQ’s oral history calling it, “perhaps the worst ceremonial first pitch in baseball history.”

“Man, I ain’t know 50 Cent threw like that,” Golden said, laughing.

And for Golden, at least, the shot at redemption and the ultimately margin of victory should ensure that his first pass attempt doesn’t live in that type of infamy, but merely exists as a humorous footnote to a memorable Texas victory that took back the Golden Hat.