ATHENS - Peyton Woodring’s recent stretch has put him in a place he hasn’t been much at Georgia: under the microscope.
The Bulldogs kicker has now missed as many field goals this season as he did across the previous two years combined, and the latest one came from 48 yards in Saturday’s win over Ole Miss. It also extended a run of four straight games with a missed field goal.
The sequence has been uneven. Woodring missed from 39 yards against Alabama on a wet field.
Against Auburn, a 54-yard try was blocked after the operation got rushed because of quarterback Gunner Stockton. Then came a miss from 43 yards against Florida, with weather not playing a role.
Still, Georgia coach Kirby Smart isn’t wavering.
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in Peyton,” Smart said. “He makes them in practice.
He had a great week last week, and really kicked the ball well. We tried to give him more opportunities to do that in gamelike situations in practice, and he’s done a great job of doing it.
He’s just gotta go out there and make them. I’ve got a lot of confidence he will.”
That belief comes with a lot of history behind it. Woodring is in his fourth season at Georgia and has been one of the SEC’s steadiest kickers. He owns the league record for consecutive extra points made, a mark he set earlier this season.
His résumé is strong enough to explain why the staff is staying patient. Twice last season, Woodring earned SEC Special Teams Player of the Week honors, and he was also a Second Team All-SEC selection in 2025.
Even in the games where he’s missed, he’s responded well. After misses against Florida, Auburn and Alabama, he came back and made his next kick right away. The Ole Miss game was the first time since Georgia’s win over Vanderbilt that he didn’t have multiple field goal attempts.
Smart also pointed to Woodring’s background as part of the reason he trusts him.
“They’re football players too,” Smart said. “I certainly think you could make the case some of those guys are more fragile, but he’s not.
He’s a multisport athlete. He’s been on the mound.
He’s had to make tough plays in other sporting events.”
Georgia does have another kicking option in Harran Zureikat, the freshman from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who was rated the No. 1 kicking prospect by ESPN, 247Sports and Kohlskicking.com. Zureikat has only handled placekicking in game action twice, both extra points in Georgia’s win over Tennessee State.
The Bulldogs also got solid work in the field-position game. Sacovie White-Helton did a better job fielding punts, and two of Drew Miller’s punts were downed inside the 20-yard line. For the first time this season, Georgia pinned an opponent at its own one-yard line.
And despite the misses, Woodring’s recent struggles haven’t cost Georgia in the standings. The Bulldogs have won their last two games by a combined 54 points.
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What makes this one especially interesting is the backdrop around his choice. Matthews reportedly had bigger NIL offers from other schools, yet still landed in Athens, which points to Georgias recruiting pitch and broader strategy carrying real weight with top targets. For a program that has built its reputation on development and winning, that combination is exactly the sort of thing fans like to see. [Read more 🡒]