This Sentell’s Intel rep shares a conversation with Georgia rising sophomore kicker Peyton Woodring from inside the victorious Georgia locker room after the 63-3 beatdown of FSU in the 2023 Orange Bowl in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Georgia scored 63 points against FSU the last time it played a football game. Freshman kicker Peyton Woodring had nine of those points even though he never got the chance to line up for a field goal.
That was the most recent example of Woodring having an active freshmen season drilling kick after kick.
Woodring was the No. 1 kicker in the country by several outlets. He held the distinction of breaking the record for the longest field goal (60 yards) in Louisiana high school history. It was a record his teammates helped play in part in getting a chance to break that had stood for more than 20 years.
He came in with lofty expectations, but none of those were higher than the expectations he placed on himself.
When he was about to become a Bulldog, he set a goal that he wanted to be the “best kicker that ever kicked” at UGA. He said that not with pride or hubris, but with a real understanding of the great tradition of excellent placekickers in Athens.
How does a freshman go about winning a team over the way he did last season?
“You have got to make kicks, man,” he said. “When you start making kicks, you start winning the team over. I think just talking to all of them and becoming friends with all the guys on the team really helped me, too.”
He made a lot of kicks on the way to being named a semifinalist in 2023 for the Lou Groza Award. That came after drilling 21 of his 25 field goal tries and making 71 of his 71 extra-point attempts.
“I’m really satisfied with my freshman year,” he said. “Had some highs and lows. Came back from them. Made a lot of kicks. Hit the percentage that I wanted to. Got some accolades that I really wanted to push for as a freshman.”
“Overall, just really excited about how it all ended up.”
His freshman season included six achievements that stick out:
- Being named SEC Co-Freshmen of the Week four different times in 2023
- There was a stretch in which he converted 16 straight field goals
- He went 3-for-3 on field goals in the Kentucky, Missouri and Vanderbilt games
- 247Sports named him to its True Freshman All-America Team
- Woodring led UGA in scoring with 134 points. That was the third-highest point total in UGA history. He averaged 9.6 of the 40.1 points per game the ‘Dawgs managed in 2023.
- His 21 field goals placed him in a tie for the ninth-highest single-season total in team history
As another means of comparison, his freshman season compares favorably to how the ultra-reliable Jack Podlesny fared as a redshirt senior at UGA in 2022.
The Brunswick native has the first and second highest-scoring seasons in Bulldog history with 151 points in 2022 and 137 in 2021, respectively.
Podlesny finished his final season in Athens hitting on 26 of his 31 attempts and drilling 73 of his 74 extra points. He converted his career-long of 50 yards against Georgia Tech. Woodring has already hit from a long of 48 yards in his first season in Athens.
Rodrigo Blankenship is the modern standard for kickers in Athens. He hit six field goals of more than 50 yards during his time in Athens, including that vital 55-yarder against Oklahoma in the 2018 Rose Bowl.
“Hot Rod” converted 14 of his 18 field goal tries during his first season in 2016. He also made all 26 of his extra points during his redshirt freshman year.
Blankenship’s best year came when he hit 20 of his 23 field goals (87 percent) in 2017. Woodring’s accuracy rate of 84 percent during his true freshman season sits near Blankenship’s sterling 82.5 percent accuracy for his storied UGA career.
It wasn’t a perfect season for Woodring. He missed a 50-yarder against Alabama in the second quarter of the SEC Championship Game. That would’ve tied the score at 10 in a game the Bulldogs ultimately lost by three points.
“Hot Rod” had a similar misfire in the 2018 SEC Championship loss to Alabama. His effort sailed wide left from 30 yards with 8:20 left in the third quarter. That effort could’ve given UGA a 31-14 lead. The ‘Dawgs eventually lost that night by a 35-28 margin.
Peyton Woodring: The down before the big ups in 2023
When he arrived in Athens last spring, there were sources in Athens that quickly touted how the young man from Louisiana was different.
They were taken by his talent and leg strength but were impressed even more by his mindset.
Woodring was in his first fall camp at UGA, but he was handling himself like a player with the approach of an NFL kicker.
Those “highs and lows” he said he endured last fall were a reflection of how he’s wired.
He started off making just four of his first seven field goals. Then he responded with a tear that saw him close out the season by converting 17 of his last 18 attempts.
“I really just kind of stepped back and looked at my whole process of kicking,” he said. “Analyzed every little part of it. I found out the things that helped me. Kind of my process. Mentally and all that. I ended up finding out what worked out pretty well for me.”
The lowest of those lows came during the South Carolina game. He missed from 28 and 43 yards in a game. He missed that 28-yarder while the ‘Dawgs trailed the Gamecocks 7-3. His 43-yard miss came while the Bulldogs were up by just a 17-14 margin.
When he missed those, he was able to wipe the slate clean and just flush it.
“It is kind of like you can’t go back and rekick it,” he said. “You can only have the next kick. Just coming back from that and knowing that I’m good enough to hit my next kick and make it from wherever it is. That is really an important thing.”
His first SEC game on the road was a clear turning point. Woodring made both of his field goals against Auburn. The first one tied the game at 10. The next one gave the ‘Dawgs a 20-17 lead.
Longtime Bulldogs will smile at the thought he was awarded the William C. Hartman Jr. Scholarship. That scholarship was endowed in honor of the longtime volunteer kicking coach and chair of the Georgia Student Education Fund, among many other accomplishments.
Hartman played in the NFL and was a National Football Foundation Hall of Famer. He was revered in Athens and coached a lot of All-SEC and All-Americans, including the great Kevin Butler.
Here’s a stat that Hartman would’ve loved: When Woodring went on that tear of 16 straight tries, there were a lot of clutch kicks in that spree.
He hit eight of those while the scoreboard showed a one-score game, including converting five field goals while the game was tied or the ‘Dawgs were trailing.
Woodring’s four misses for the year came while the ‘Dawgs were tied, down four, up by three and down by three.
He finished his freshman season making 11 of the 14 tries he had while the game was tied, the ‘Dawgs trailed or they led by seven points or less.
“I really think mentally after that South Carolina game coming back from that really helped me,” he said. “I think next year is just focusing on technique and stuff and just trying to get better so I can help the team more.”
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