5-star Peyton Bowen projected to flip from Notre Dame to Oklahoma

The Notre Dame football program has taken some hits in the 2023 recruiting class and another could be coming with the potential decommitment of five-star DB Peyton Bowen.

At one point, it seemed like Notre Dame football was on the verge of contending for the No. 1 spot in the 2023 recruiting class.

At least, that was the idea this summer. Notre Dame had a couple of five-stars committed, appeared to be the favorite for Dante Moore, and a bunch of other top-100 commitments.

The Irish still have a really good recruiting class. It’s ranked sixth right now in 2023 according to the 247 sports team rankings, but according to Steve Wiltfong, it’s about to take another huge hit in the form of Peyton Bowen flipping his commitment to Oklahoma.

Brandon Drumm the Oklahoma 247 sports reporter put in a projection for Bowen to flip on Friday. Wiltfong, one of the most trusted recruiting analysts in the industry, followed suit early Saturday morning which is a really bad omen for Notre Dame football.

Peyton Bowen the latest flip for Notre Dame football

Keon Keely just announced his commitment and the former five-star defensive end was essentially flipped by Alabama. That’s what everyone thought when he decommitted, it just took a minute as other schools were in hot pursuit.

Bowen is a 6-foot, 195-pound safety ranked 14th overall in the 247 sports composite rankings, out of Denton, Texas, and has been targeted by Texas A&M, Texas, Oklahoma and others. Yet, the Irish were able to hold them off.

But with Early Signing Day fast approaching, it seems like the Sooners have finally done enough to win him over. Things with recruiting are always fluid and there is still time for Notre Dame football to save it before signing day but it doesn’t look good.

Dylan Edwards, a four-star running back and another top prize in the class, also flipped his commitment to Colorado after Deion Sanders was hired. Brandon Davis-Swain, a top-100 recruit in 2024, also decommitted and could wind up at Michigan.

Here’s what Wiltfong wrote about Bowen’s recruitment on Saturday morning:

"“Committed to Notre Dame since Jan. 1, Bowen has since made several visits to Oklahoma. Brent Venables and his staff look to be well-positioned heading into Saturday’s in-home visit with the Bowen family. Oregon has piqued the interest of Bowen late in the cycle as well following a visit earlier in the fall, but they were not able to get him to campus for a second look this weekend. Notre Dame is trying to hang in there and will fight till the final bell but this does not seem to be going their way and look like they need a change in tide to reel this one back in.”"

Notre Dame football fans want to blame NIL but I don’t know if that’s the culprit. The Irish certainly found a way to appease CJ Carr who was rumored to want millions of dollars to sign, so I don’t see that being a big issue.

Brent Venables and the Sooners pushed really hard and it seems like only a matter of time before Bowen, a rumored flip for months, finally makes it official.