Texas might be able to outbid Georgia, but they can't beat UGA when it matters most

July 15 marked the commitment date for five-star linebackerTyler Atkinson, and Georgia football fans all over the country were paying close attention to his announcement. Unfortunately the top ranked player from the Peach State chose to commit to Texas over the Bulldogs, Clemson and Oregon.

Georgia was thought to be the leader for Atkinson for most of the year, but Texas came on strong towards the end of his recruitment. So how exactly were the Longhorns able to knock Georgia off and win Atkinson's recruitment?

Money likely was deciding factor for 5-star Tyler Atkinson

Texas was a team that got involved pretty late in Atkinson's recruitment. In fact, as the recruiting calendar turned to June the Longhorns had barely even been mentioned as being a serious contender for Atkinson. That however changed at the end of June as the Longhorns hosted Atkinson on his last official visit of the summer.

Reports immediately came out after this visit that Texas had closed the gap with Georgia, but apparently they did more than just close the gap as the Longhorns were the team to come out on top on Tuesday.

It's impossible to know exactly what led Atkinson to choose Texas over Georgia, but it's likely that NIL money played a big role in his decision. How else would a team be able to come out of nowhere at the end of his recruitment and beat the program who had been recruiting Atkinson the hardest for years?

Texas can enjoy this win on the recruiting trail, because as it stands today Georgia is the top dog in the SEC. Georgia is the team who are the reigning SEC Champions as the beat Texas in Atlanta to win the SEC crown. Not only did Georgia beat Texas in the SEC title game, but UGA also beat the Longhorns in their own stadium when they were the No. 1 team in the country.

So as long as Georgia keeps beating Texas and dominating the SEC, then no UGA fan will even remember this loss.

Georgia will have their chance to put Texas back in their place this season as the Longhorns travel to Athens for Georgia's SEC finale on Nov. 15.