Peyton Woodring handles the pressure

Peyton Woodring's first two SEC games have been a roller coaster.

Against South Carolina, Woodring missed a pair of field goals, the first from 28 yards and the second from 43 yards. Georgia won the game by 10 points, but those kicks could have changed the tenor of the Bulldogs' SEC opener.

In a hostile environment at Auburn, however, Woodring showed impressive poise. He connected on a pair of field goals, including one in the fourth quarter that gave Georgia a 20-17 lead.

"We've been putting a lot of pressure on him in practice, but I don't know if that simulates it," Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said after the Auburn game. "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.”

That Auburn win concluded an intense two weeks for Woodring.

After the South Carolina game, Smart noted that the kicking situation had to improve. He said he had seen better from Woodring in practice, but that those kicks have to turn into points.

Three days later, Smart implied the kicking competition still existed between Woodring and Jared Zirkel.

"We're always having competition," Smart said. "Like I said all along, it's always going to be open, regardless. We're competing every week. The competition every week has been pretty consistent. They've been pretty even, but with the outcome of the game, we have to continue to open it up."

Smart has mentioned putting pressure on the kickers a couple of times in recent weeks. While he didn't get into specifics, Smart said those periods are designed to put the kicker in a mindset of coming off the bench and getting just one shot at making a kick.

Smart said Woodring begs for those kicks in practice. He believes that has its roots in Woodring's high school exploits.

"He was a baseball player. He pitched," Smart said. "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."

Woodring's fellow specialists have seen him respond to adversity as well.

"We never doubted it," punter Brett Thorson said. "The adversity, we’ve seen what he can do at practice each day that he’s come in here since (summer). 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."

Woodring has been called on to make big kicks at an early stage in his college career. More pressure-packed moments undoubtedly lie ahead.

No matter what happens down the line, Smart has been impressed with how his freshman has bounced back from a shaky start.

"I told him he's got 10 people out there with him, and he's got another 74 in the locker room that love him regardless of whether he makes it or not," Smart said. "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."