Peyton Woodring overcomes struggles for strong showing at Auburn
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia won on Saturday over Auburn for several reasons. One of those was the clutch performance of freshman kicker Peyton Woodring.
Named a co-winner of SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday, Woodring (and linebacker Smael Mondon who won Defensive Player of the Week) was the first Bulldog to bring home a weekly award this season. He hit on both of his two attempts, a 37-yarder to tie the game in the first half and a 38-yard make the put Georgia ahead for the first time in the contest early in the fourth quarter.
“Big man. We’ve been putting a lot of pressure on him in practice but I don’t know that simulates it,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said after the game on Saturday. “There’s nothing that simulates what he had to do today. I told the team after the game, he begs to do the pressure kicks in practice and he made them in the game. I think the kid’s got something special to him.”
Woodring’s day was big not only for the Bulldogs to claim the win over Auburn, but also for the true freshman’s confidence. He missed two attempts against South Carolina and had an earlier miss versus Ball State. While he had an opportunity to kick extra points against UAB last week, Saturday’s road trip to Auburn was the first time he had been called upon for a field goal since the poor showing against the Gamecocks.
“We never doubted it,” punter Brett Thorson said of Woodring. “The adversity, we’ve seen what he can do at practice each day that he’s come in here since fall. We know what he’s capable of. Watching him just go about it, he just went about his business as professional as he could. He knows the job at hand to do, so lock back in and did what he can do, what we all know he can do.”
“Have a lot of confidence in Peyton. I think he is wired the right way,” Smart added. “He was a baseball player. He pitched. When you have these kids that did multiple sports and they’ve had pressure on them in other environments, I’m a big believer in having to sit on that mound and throw strikes. I mean, I’ve been out there and know how hard it is to do it. He’s having to do that and kicking in front of 93,000 people. And that’s not easy, and he’s a true freshman. But he did a nice job going through his process, breathing, handling things well. And, you know, I told him he’s got 10 people out there with him, and he’s got another 73 in the locker room that love him regardless of whether he makes it or not. It’s unconditional love, and he has to know that and be able to relax and kick. I was very proud of him and the way he handled it.”
Woodring could be asked to make clutch kicks once again this week with Georgia playing its first ranked opponent of the season. The Bulldogs host No. 20 Kentucky with the Wildcats coming into Athens at 5-0 following a big win over a previously-ranked Florida squad last Saturday.
Kickoff time for this week at Sanford Stadium is set for 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN. Georgia is a 14.5-point favorite according to oddsmakers in Las Vegas according to VegasInsider.
