5-Star 2024 S Peyton Woodyard spurns Texas football, picks Georgia

One of the highly anticipated commitments for the Texas football program at the Army All-American Bowl on Jan. 7 came from the elite five-star St. John Bosco (CA) 2024 safety Peyton Woodyard. The top-50-rated 2024 California native safety Woodyard had Texas as a late riser ahead of his decision this weekend.

On Jan. 7, 2023, Woodyard became the first high school junior to announce his commitment live on national television during the All-American Bowl. That’s part of the reason why his decision was so highly anticipated.

Another obvious factor was Texas moving back among his top schools in the last couple of weeks.

Despite the late run from head coach Steve Sarkisian, safeties coach Blake Gideon, and the Longhorns ahead of Woodyard’s commitment this week, Texas wound up falling short in the end. Woodyard picked the Georgia Bulldogs over other top schools such as the Ohio State Buckeyes, Florida Gators, USC Trojans, and Texas.

Georgia and Ohio State were considered the two favorites in the race to land a commitment from Woodyard since early-to-mid December. But Sark, Gideon, and the Longhorns kept pushing behind the scenes and made a really big late move in this recruitment.

Texas football misses out on 5-Star 2024 S Peyton Woodyard to Georgia at the All-American Bowl

It still wasn’t enough, though, as head coach Kirby Smart and Georgia wound up securing their whopping seventh commitment in the 2024 recruiting class. Woodyard is the second top-40-rated recruit in Georgia’s 2024 class as of Jan. 7.

Georgia hosted Woodyard for a key visit in early November. And that’s where the momentum for the Dawgs in this recruitment really took off. Some other competing schools on the recruiting trail for Woodyard such as Ohio State, Florida, and USC made some significant pushes during late-cycle visits.

But it’s hard to outcompete the Dawgs for top safety recruits such as Woodyard when Smart and that staff put in this type of effort with a top prospect on the trail.

Texas still sits at two commitments in the 2024 recruiting class following the news that Woodyard picked Georgia this weekend. According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, the 2024 Texas recruiting class ranks at No. 18 in the nation. Meanwhile, Georgia holds the top spot in the 2024 National Class Rankings after landing Woodyard.