You could say sophomore placekicker Peyton Woodring has had lofty goals for his football career at the University of Georgia—and for a while.
“Back in high school, it was my goal to push for the starting job when I got to Georgia as a true freshman, and hopefully get it,” said Woodring, who committed to UGA just before his senior year at Ascension Episcopal School in Youngsville, Louisiana. “From there, I eventually wanted to go down as the all-time best kicker at Georgia.”
After deciding to attend UGA primarily because of the “culture” of the school’s football program, Woodring, at first, resembled nothing like one of the Bulldogs’ all-time kicking greats.
In the second game of last season against Ball State, Woodring missed a 28-yard field goal, marking the first time in seven years a Georgia player had missed a field goal shorter than 30 yards. The next week at South Carolina, he missed another 28-yard field goal, which was followed by a 43-yard miss. Through his first four games as a Bulldog, Woodring had missed three of seven field goals. Again, it had been seven years, or not since 2016, Kirby Smart’s first season as head coach, since Georgia had struggled as much at the placekicking position.
“When I was struggling early on, I kind of took a step back from my [kicking] process. I then really grinded on what I needed to fix,” Woodring said. “At the same time, the team had confidence in me. So, I ended up figuring things out.”
Indeed, beginning with game five at Auburn in late September, Woodring made 16 consecutive field goals before finally missing a 50-yard attempt against Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. For the season, he was a perfect 71 of 71 kicking PATs and 21 of 25 on field goals. When asked about his favorite kick, Woodring points to his season-long 48-yard field goal against Missouri which gave Georgia a late two-score lead in a 30-21 win.
Woodring’s 134 points scored in 2023 are the third most by any individual—and the most by a freshman—for a single season in Georgia football history, trailing only his place-kicking predecessor, Jack Podlesny (see table below).
“Looking back on it, I’m excited about it—really proud of what I accomplished my freshman year. I came back from a tough start, pushed through it, and wound up finishing strong. I’m happy with it,” Woodring said. “Of course, this is what I expected of myself. I knew I could do this.”
Still, Woodring admits there’s always room for improvement, and he’s “nowhere near—not yet” to being mentioned amongst Georgia’s kicking greats. “But I’m off to a good start,” he added.
Woodring is confident he can eventually reach his lofty goals, and due in large part to his team’s “mentality,” or what he considers sets Georgia’s football program apart from all the rest.
“At Georgia, there’s the mentality to get better every day. And I don’t think other places have that as much,” Woodring said. “It’s really driven here. And, because of that, I’ve personally found that UGA is the perfect place to become your best self.”
