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Five-star running back David Gabriel Georges is staying home. The most fought-over uncommitted player in the 2027 class picked Tennessee over Ohio State on Wednesday, ending a recruitment that ran neck and neck for months and handing Josh Heupel the biggest win of his tenure on the trail.
Georges is the No. 2 running back in the 2027 cycle and a consensus five-star across Rivals, 247Sports and ESPN. He runs for Baylor School in Chattanooga, about two hours south of Knoxville, which made this recruitment personal for the Volunteers.
He is the No. 1 player in the state of Tennessee, and keeping a talent like that home is a statement about where the program sits under Heupel.
Why Tennessee beat out Ohio State for David Gabriel Georges
On3's Pete Nakos called this one before it happened, logging his prediction for the Vols at the start of the week. In a video with colleague Josh Newberg, Nakos explained why he felt confident when the rest of the industry was still split, and his read held up.
"Yeah, it's commitment week for David Gabriel Georges. He commits Wednesday, and all the intel in the last 72 hours is behind the Volunteers. Tennessee has felt ultra confident, I'd say, for about a month now. And it's continuing to ramp up. Ohio State's always been a big player, big factor in this recruitment. But just everything I'm hearing from both sides, I feel really good about where Tennessee's at right now," Nakos said.
He pointed to the official visit as the moment things tilted, and that visit turned out to be the difference.
"The Vols put on a heck of an OV and they've continued to ramp that up in the last six weeks and they feel good and that's not to say Ohio State doesn't feel good, but it's clear at this point to me from everything I've heard and the people I've talked to that the confidence and momentum sits with Tennessee," Nakos said.
Nakos was not alone. Four On3 insiders logged Tennessee predictions this week, including Steve Wiltfong, Sam Spiegelman and Chad Simmons, all at a 70% confidence level. Hours before the commitment, Tennessee was the prediction favorite at Rivals with 92.1% of insiders calling for the Vols. Ohio State was a distant runner-up at 5.2%, and Ole Miss brought up the rear at just 1.0%.
What the loss means for Ohio State's running back plans
The Buckeyes put a lot into this race. Ohio State poured its entire 2027 running back effort into Georges, which means the miss forces the program to either flip a back from another class or lean on the transfer portal to build around Bo Jackson and Isaiah West.
Neither path replaces landing a top-tier high school back outright, and that is the cost of coming up short in a two-team race.
Money was part of the picture too. Reporting indicated Tennessee's offer could push past $2 million per year over three years, with Ohio State's package sitting just above $1 million annually across the same span.
How Georges fits Josh Heupel's Tennessee offense
Heupel's offense has produced three straight 1,000-yard rushers, with Dylan Sampson breaking school records at 1,491 yards in 2024 and DeSean Bishop reaching 1,076 this past season. Georges steps into a scheme built to feed a lead back after running for 1,749 yards and 27 touchdowns in just ten games as a junior.
The Quebec native who now calls Chattanooga home also gives Tennessee its crown jewel in a class that ranked 34th nationally before Wednesday.
His teammates and fellow Vols commits recruited him hard down the stretch, and the staff put his name in French on The Rock during his official visit, a nod to his roots that clearly landed.
Newberg noted before the announcement that some Ohio State fans were still holding out hope, and there was history behind that. Vols fans certainly remember losing Vonn Bell to Ohio State on signing day in 2013. This time the hat went the other way, and Tennessee walked off with the recruit it wanted most.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/fannation/college/cfb-hq as College Football’s No. 2 RB Makes Decision That Shakes Up Two National Powers.
