Texas vs. Georgia: How the two programs’ recruiting stacks up
AUSTIN, Tex. -- Georgia is in Austin today to face No. 1 Texas, marking the first meeting between the two schools on the Texas campus since 1958.
The simplest way to preview the top-5 matchup would be to find the answer to two questions:
- Which team has the more talented roster?
- Which team is playing better right now?
The answer to the second item isn’t that difficult to chart.
While it may be a matter which teams each program has faced in 2024, the Longhorns hold a clear edge. They are unbeaten and the key national statistical rankings in the major statistical areas favor the home team.
The fact that Texas leads the nation in scoring defense (6.3 ppg) and Georgia is 20th overall (17.2 ppg) jumps out. Texas is also seventh (43.2) in scoring offense and the Bulldogs are 35th (33.5 ppg) in that category.
When it comes to recruiting, the way each program has forged those prospects into bonafide NFL prospects matter.
There’s a point in every top 10 matchup where the number of future projected Sunday players matter more than the collection of former high school All-Americans and 5-stars on each roster.
That said, the recruiting tale of the tape yields another clear winner.
(Note: All recruiting rankings used below are culled from the 247Sports Team Composite rankings).
Average recruiting class ranking (2020-2024)
Georgia: No. 2 nationally (Average 2.0 ranking)
Texas: No. 7 nationally (Average 7.4 ranking)
Average recruiting class ranking (2021-2024)
Georgia: No. 2 nationally (Average 2.3 ranking)
Texas: No. 7 nationally (Average 7.0 ranking)
How many 5-star prospects signed with each team from 2021-2024?
Georgia: 19 (13 remain; 4 off to the NFL; 1 transfered)
Texas: 11 (10 remain; 1 off to the NFL)
The number of former 5-star prospects that have started for each school in 2024: Georgia: 5 (0 offense, 5 defense), Texas: 5 (4 offense, 1 defense).
Top 100 overall prospects signed (2021-2024)
Georgia: 41 (13 offense, 28 defense)
Texas: 20 (12 offense, 8 defense)
The number of former Top 100 overall prospects that have started in 2024 for each team: Georgia: 15 (5 offense, 10 defense), Texas: 10 (5 offense, 5 defense).
Average prospect ranking for the starters on both sides of the ball
Offense: Georgia No. 259 overall; Texas No. 238 overall
Defense: Georgia No. 211 overall: Texas No. 426 overall
What does the Bud Elliott blue-chip ratio look like for each team?
Georgia: 80 percent
Texas: 72 percent
Number of starters from each recruiting class
Georgia: 2019: 2; 2020: 4; 2021: 7; 2022: 12; 2023: 6
Texas: 2018: 1; 2019: 1; 2020: 4; 2021: 7; 2022: 8; 2023: 7
Number of players on the latest ESPN 2025 NFL Top 5 Draft prospects at each position
Georgia: 9 (6 offense, 3 defense)
Texas: 6 (2 offense, 4 defense)
Georgia vs. Texas recruiting: The takeaway
The findings show that Georgia has recruited at a higher level. The Bulldogs have signed more of the elite 5-stars and brought in more of the elite Top 100 national recruits over the last four recruiting cycles.
While the data for each program’s 2021 recruiting class is skewed with so many NFL or transfer portal departures, it was included because those classes still provided a large number of starters for each program (14) heading into this game.
While we have focused on starters so far in 2024 for this comparison, recruiting at an elite level also factors in greatly with depth and also the players each team deploys on special teams.
Interesting personnel tidbits for Georgia vs. Texas
- Texas has the nation’s No. 1 QB from the 2021 cycle (Quinn Ewers) and the 2023 cycle on its roster (Arch Manning). Ewers came to Texas via the transfer portal from Ohio State. The presence of those two players and their No. 1 overall rankings boosted the Texas average when it came to the high school recruiting rankings of their starters on offense so far this season.
- Texas has graduate transfer DL Jermayne Lole that graduated from high school in 2018. The former 3-star prospect played at Arizona State and Louisville before arriving at Texas. He’s taken full advantage of his redshirt options and the COVID-19 bonus year for the 2020 season.
- Texas and Georgia also both have starters that came out of the 2019 recruiting class. That’s sixth-year LB David Gbenda for the Longhorns and starting OT Xavier Truss for UGA. Georgia’s Dan Jackson also graduated from high school in 2019.
- Speaking of Jackson, the Longhorns have their own walk-on to starter at safety story in safety Michael Taaffe, who was an unranked recruit with no national prospects rankings coming out of high school. He is a sixth-generation attendee at Texas.
- Texas also has another defensive starter in EDGE Trey Moore who had zero stars coming out of high school. The first-year transfer from UTSA was not rated as a prospect by the national services. That said, he’s on those 2025 NFL Mock Draft boards as one of the nation’s top 5 players at his position.
- Both teams used the transfer portal to stockpile their teams. It is interesting to note Texas has found six players who have started a game in 2024 out of the transfer portal. The ratio is split with three players each on offense and defense. The Longhorns will deploy two probable starting receivers that came out of the transfer portal.
- Georgia has started four players this fall that came out of the portal. Those Bulldogs have all been on offense. Georgia’s starting personnel on defense remains 100 percent from the high school ranks.
- The Longhorns have benefitted from great consistency in their starting lineups. While they lost a 5-star tailback this year due to injury, they’ve been remarkably healthy across the offensive front. Texas has had the same five offensive line starters in every game this year. As a means of comparison, the Bulldogs have had to shuffle around seven different starters across their offensive line.
- Texas has had the same starter at eight of the 11 positions on defense this season, including the same four names across their front four this fall. Georgia has seen eight different players start for its defensive front in 2024.
About the Author
Jeff Sentell covers UGA football and recruiting. He is a graduate of UGA's Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and has been a staff writer at news outlets in Alabama, Georgia and Virginia. Prior to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he was at The Birmingham News and AL.com. He was named the 2005 Georgia Press Association Sportswriter of the Year.
