Oregon flips five-star safety Peyton Bowen from Notre Dame

After months of back-and-forth between sticking with his Notre Dame pledge or flipping elsewhere, Denton (Texas) Guyer five-star Peyton Bowen has officially signed with Oregon on the opening day of the Early Signing Period.

This concludes a rollercoaster recruitment that started with Bowen committing to Notre Dame on Jan. 1 before almost immediately showing interest in Oklahoma, Texas A&M and others in the spring.

Bowen took multiple visits to both Oklahoma and Texas A&M during the spring and summer before the Sooners emerged as the apparent lone flip favorite heading into the month of December.

However, Oregon made a brief but notable appearance in his recruitment, and was close to securing an official visit this past weekend before the Ducks' attempt was thwarted by Oklahoma's scheduled in-home visit on Saturday afternoon which followed Notre Dame's in-home visit on Thursday.

After keeping the suspense rolling into National Signing Day, Bowen eventually sent in his letter of intent to Oregon on Wednesday, ending what could easily be tabbed as the most hectic recruitment in the entire country for the 2023 cycle.

During his senior season, Bowen has found just about every way to affect the game from the safety position, whether it be forcing and returning fumbles, creating scoring opportunities off of long interception returns – or just downright scoring himself – or making impact plays in the return game.

His IQ from the defensive backfield allows him to see everything happening in front of him at a moment’s notice, and his reaction timing puts him in the list of the most dangerous defenders I have ever personally covered.

Down the stretch, Bowen has a real chance to rise further into the top 10 if he can carry his senior season performance into the Under Armour All-American Game next month.

At 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, Bowen is the No. 10 ranked prospect in the country for the class of 2023, according to Rivals. He is the No. 2 ranked safety in the country and the No. 2 recruit from the state of Texas.