Tennessee football fans won’t get David Gabriel Georges in Knoxville until 2027, but the five-star running back gave them a pretty strong preview Thursday night.
Gabriel Georges opened his senior season at Baylor School in Chattanooga against Brentwood Academy on national television. By the time Baylor finished off a 38-20 win in a rematch of last season’s state championship game, the Tennessee commit had turned into one of the biggest talking points of the night on social media.
It wasn’t just one viral play, either.
Gabriel Georges finished with 243 yards from scrimmage, rushing for 173 yards and catching passes for another 70. He scored three touchdowns, all in the fourth quarter, as Baylor pulled away late.
Tennessee Commit David Gabriel Georges Takes Over Opener
MaxPreps’ Thomas Frey reported that Baylor entered the fourth quarter leading 17-13 before Gabriel Georges took over. He ripped off three straight runs of at least 10 yards on one drive before scoring from six yards out.
Brentwood Academy answered immediately with an 80-yard touchdown pass to Bowman, but Gabriel Georges and Baylor responded again. He added two more rushing touchdowns to put the game away.
The performance came less than a month after Gabriel Georges committed to Tennessee over Ohio State and Ole Miss on July 22. CBS Sports’ Brad Crawford had him ranked as the No. 10 overall prospect and No. 2 running back in the 2027 class at the time of his commitment.
Gabriel Georges was already coming off a monster junior season, rushing for 1,749 yards and 27 touchdowns while helping Baylor finish 12-0 and win the Division II-AAA state championship. MaxPreps named him its National Player of the Year.
Thursday night only gave Tennessee fans another reason to understand the hype.
Social Media Erupts Over David Gabriel Georges
One of the first plays to take off online came when Gabriel Georges was flipped by a Brentwood Academy defender, planted his hands on the turf and somehow kept moving instead of going down.
“The impromptu handstand is the new best way to avoid being tackled,” Barstool Sports posted on X.
The clips kept coming as the game went along.
“Never really watched DGG but his contact balance is laugh out loud funny. Best of luck to everyone tasked with bringing this kid down in the years to come,” The Athletic’s David Ubben wrote.
On3’s J.D. PicKell was even more colorful.
“The contact balance on David Gabriel Georges is absolutely repulsive,” PicKell wrote.
Rivals High School joined in as Gabriel Georges began taking over the fourth quarter.
“UNREAL Tennessee Five-Star Plus+ RB commit David Gabriel Georges is taking over this game,” Rivals posted.
After the final whistle, MaxPreps had another message for Tennessee’s future running back.
“Have a day, David Gabriel Georges! The consensus No. 1 RB in the country and Tennessee commit was a man possessed in No. 12 Baylor (TN)’s opening night win over No. 13 Brentwood Academy (TN).”
For Tennessee, the best part is that Gabriel Georges is still more than a year away from arriving on campus.
For everyone eventually tasked with tackling him in the SEC, Thursday night’s clips weren’t exactly comforting.
Tennessee 5-Star Commit David Gabriel Georges Has Social Media Losing It