A glance over Georgia’s football roster for the upcoming National Championship Game versus TCU reveals there are nine players from the state of Texas. It’s a staggering total considering the Bulldogs for decades hardly recruited the Lone Star State.

“Georgia is a special place to be,” replied defensive lineman Bear Alexander of Denton, Texas, when asked why he thought the sudden influx of Bulldog players from his home state. “Recruits from all over the country are seeing Georgia’s production year in and year out, so I think that’s why more out-of-state guys are coming to UGA.”

Along with defensive back Julian Humphrey (Webster, Texas), Alexander was part of a pair of five-star defenders from Texas in Georgia’s 2022 class. They were joined by running back Andrew Paul (Dallas) and wide receiver Dillon Bell (Houston). Other Texans on the roster include wide receiver AD Mitchell (Missouri City) from the 2021 class, and offensive lineman Chad Lindberg (League City) and placekicker Jared Zirkel (Kerrville) from the year before. In addition, walk-ons and redshirt freshmen Cash Jones (Brock), a running back, and quarterback Collin Drake (Ennis) are Texans.

“It’s Texas—and that’s where the best high school football talent is, in my opinion,” said Mitchell, who wasn’t highly recruited yet was third in receiving as a true freshman on Georgia’s national championship squad a year ago. “Texas is such a big state, so there’s a lot of places colleges can go to find quality high school talent. And Georgia is finding that quality talent.”

There was a time—and not that long ago—when you could say, Georgia was unsuccessful in discovering the quality talent in Texas. From 2003 through 2017—a 15-year period—the Bulldogs signed only one recruit from Texas: quarterback Matthew Stafford, the No. 6 overall prospect in the 2006 class. However, over the next five years (2018-2022), and perhaps not by coincidence, following Georgia’s appearance in the 2018 National Championship Game, the Bulldogs signed an average of two recruits per year from Texas.

Trailing obviously the state of Georgia, Texas is a close third behind Florida (12 players) in terms of states most represented on the Bulldogs’ current roster. Also, in comparison to the Bulldogs’ nine players from Texas, Tennessee had just one Texan on its 2022 roster, Auburn had three, while Florida had seven, including Jalen Kimber from Mansfield, who originally signed with Georgia in 2020 before deciding to transfer.

Among the Texans on the Georgia roster, there is a sense of pride and camaraderie regarding their Lone Star roots.

“I know that Chad [Lindberg], Cash [Jones], and I, whenever anyone says anything negative about Texas, we’re right there to set them straight,” Zirkel said half-kidding with a laugh. “Everything is bigger in Texas. High school football is definitely bigger in Texas. And I don’t think some of the guys here respect the high school football in Texas. But we set them straight (chuckling).”

Jones, who had a couple of offers from smaller schools in Texas, decided to go the preferred walk-on route to Georgia because of his relationship with running backs coach Dell McGee and because he wanted to attend school far from home. Still, Jones plans on returning to his home state upon graduation.

“I try to bring up the state of Texas in conversation whenever it’s appropriate,” Jones said with a smile. “It’s a big, great state. I love Texas—and I miss it.”

Several Texas natives were recruited heavily by Georgia’s opponent this Monday before each decided they’d rather be a Bulldog than a Horned Frog. Included was Lindberg, the No. 25 overall prospect in the state for 2020, No. 179 nationally, who visited TCU and attended a game in 2018. Paul, who figures to be a contributor in Georgia’s backfield next season as a mere redshirt freshman after spending this season rehabbing a torn ACL, considered TCU before an assistant coach left Fort Worth for the NFL.

“I went on a visit to TCU late in my recruiting process and really liked it,” Paul said. “I was talking to their running backs coach, Ra’Shaad Samples, a lot. But Coach Samples wound up leaving, going [to the Los Angeles Rams]. He was the main person I was talking to. So, when he left, I kind of stopped considering TCU.”

Bell, who has been good friends with Mitchell since the sixth grade, was also considering TCU. That was before he visited the campus, where a member of the Horned Frog staff informed him they wanted to move the wide receiver from his primary position.

“TCU wanted me to play linebacker,” said Bell, who has made 19 receptions, including three touchdowns, as a true freshman this season. “I was talking to TCU quite a bit and had some interest. But when they wanted to move me to linebacker, I decided it wasn’t going to work out between us.”

Instead, Bell decided to join the growing contingent of Texas recruits to leave their native state to attend school and play football roughly 1,000 miles away at the University of Georgia. Worthy of mention, Anthony Evans III, a four-star wide receiver from Converse, Texas, apparently doesn’t mind the distance from his home state either. Evans is set to join the Bulldogs next season as a member of their 2023 class.

“The way I see it—and I think a lot of guys are like this—distance isn’t really a factor when you’re at least about three hours from home. At that distance, it kind of doesn’t matter how far from home you are because you really can’t go home anyways. More than three-four hours is too far,” Lindberg said. “So, when recruits see the type of football we play and experience the good job we do with the prospects’ visits and their recruiting, there’s a huge desire nationally to go to Georgia now—even as far away as the state of Texas.”