1/14/2023 football Edit

OT Walter Rouse flips to Oklahoma three days after committing to Nebraska

Zack Carpenter • InsideNebraska

Publisher

Zack Carpenter is the publisher of Inside Nebraska. He previously covered recruiting and the team beat for Ohio State, Clemson, South Carolina and recruiting at the national level for three years.

In a shocking turn of events, OT Walter Rouse has flipped his commitment from Nebraska to Oklahoma, announcing the move on Saturday.

Rouse was a four-year starter at Stanford, where started in 39 games for the Cardinal. He entered the portal on Dec. 15, and he soon became one of the Huskers' priority targets.

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Nebraska was in a three-way recruiting battle against Oklahoma and Iowa, and the Huskers seemed to pull off a monstrous win when Rouse committed to Nebraska on Wednesday, Jan. 11.

Just three days later, though, he has backed off of that pledge and is heading to the Sooners.

Matt Rhule and offensive line coach Donovan Raiola did a terrific job in recruiting Rouse, getting him on campus and soon getting him to pick the Huskers.

"It just came down to how we felt and how our relationship was with the coaches and the staff," Rouse told Inside Nebraska of why he picked the Huskers. “And just an overall feel for the university. I really felt like I could call it home. Each school that I went to — Oklahoma, Nebraska and Iowa — all checked off the major boxes, which is why I went to visit them in the first place. They all pretty much stacked up and checked all the boxes.

“It really just came down to how I felt personally with Coach Raiola and Coach Rhule, plus the staff in general. I felt like coach Raiola truly believed in me and he had a plan for me. He knew where he could get me to the NFL draft and getting to the next level. So that's what did it for me."

After all of that, however, Rouse has changed his mind.

Nebraska landed a huge get in Arizona State OL Ben Scott out of the portal in December but lost out on Baylor OL Micah Mazzccua, who looked like he was heading to Nebraska before a last-minute switch led him to picking Florida.

And now, instead of the Huskers, Rouse will become part of Brent Venables' program in Norman, leaving the Huskers shaking their heads as to how he slipped out of their hands.