Penn State and Ohio State are both attacking the second wave of running back recruiting in the 2027 class after losing out on their top options, and both have landed on three-star Jordan Hall from Princeton High School in Cincinnati.
With Penn State, Ohio State, and Missouri locked in as his finalists, Hall announced on Wednesday that he will make his commitment on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. ET, as all three programs are on their lone bye week of the 2026 season.
UPDATE, My commitment will be on saturday at 5 pm tune in!! 📲
— Jordan Hall 3⭐️RB/ATH (@2k_jlo) October 22, 2026
Hall is ranked as the No. 60 running back in the nation, according to 247Sports Composite, and the No. 852 player overall.
Matt Campbell is looking for more RB depth after Aiden Gibson flip
Penn State has just one running back in its 2027 class, Chukwuma Odoh, a three-star from Parasmus Catholic in New Jersey, who is ranked No. 43 in the country. The class still ranks No. 20 in the country despite its lone QB commit, Will Wood, flipping to Boston College on Sunday.
Campbell and general manager Derek Hoodjer did have a four-star running back commit, Aiden Gibson; however, Gibson flipped to Rutgers over the summer and reclassified to the 2026 class. Gibson has run for 35 yards on 11 carries, backing up star running back Antwan Raymond on a 2-4 Scarlet Knights team in Piscataway.
Gibson’s flip left Penn State to scour the second wave of running back recruits in the class, which has seemingly led multiple power conference programs to Hall, who decommitted from Miami (OH) in September as power conference offers rolled in. Hall was one of many recruits on hand for Penn State’s 31-23 White Out loss to USC on October 10.
Ohio State is in a similar situation, bouncing back into the class after missing out on its top target. The Buckeyes made a serious push for 2027 five-star running back David Gabriel Georges, who eventually committed to Tennessee for a three-year, $6 million deal.
Despite its 20 commits and the No. 6 ranking in the country, the Buckeyes do not have a running back committed in the class and have thus made Hall a priority before the early signing period begins in early December.
A battle on two fronts with Missouri
Also lingering in this battle are Eli Drinkwitz’s Missouri Tigers. The Tigers do have a four-star running back commit in Kingston Miles, the No. 19 running back in the country. They are also currently looking to hold off the Nittany Lions for their four-star QB commit, Braylen Warren, as Campbell flew out to Omaha, Nebraska, to extend him an offer on Wednesday.
It will be an uphill battle for Campbell to pry Warren away from Drinkwitz, and it will seemingly be tough for both Drinkwitz and Campbell to outdo the Buckeyes for the in-state running back they’ve set their sights on.
According to the Rivals Prediction Machine, Hall is favored to choose Ohio State at 93%, with Penn State at just 4%. The Buckeyes need a running back the most and have the most resources to throw at one, so they'll likely come out on top.
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