ATHENS — Carson Beck is not the only key player the Bulldogs will have to replace for the College Football Playoff run.
Georgia saw punter Brett Thorson suffer a season-ending knee injury in the win over Texas. After the injury for Thorson, Georgia did not attempt another punt.
Georgia did run a fake punt with Charlie Ham lined up as Georgia’s punter, but the ball went to Drew Bobo, who flipped the ball forward to Arian Smith for a first down.
Like the quarterback position — where the Bulldogs will roll with quarterback Gunner Stockton — Georgia will have time to find Thorson’s replacement.
On Monday, Georgia coach Kirby Smart provided an update on the competition.
“Yeah, that’s a day-to-day competition, to be honest with you,” Smart said. “I mean, we get a lot of guys reps, the guys that punt, and we’ll decide, you know, probably closer to the game as we finalize that, but that’s been, you know, going on since we started back.”
Thorson was a finalist for the Ray Guy Award and has been a major weapon for the Bulldogs in recent years. Only twice this season has Georgia given up a return longer than 4 yards.
As for the possible options, Drew Miller is the likely favorite. Miller has not punted in a game for Georgia this season after the Bulldogs signed Miller in the 2024 recruiting cycle.
“Drew’s been great,” Smart said. “He’s done a good job. He’s taken the majority of those reps, but when the job’s open we let everybody punt.”
But Miller isn’t the only option the Bulldogs could turn to. In addition to Ham, there is also Noah Jones. The Bulldogs have used Peyton Woodring on kickoffs and field kicking.
With Beck and Thorson out, Stockton will step in as the third-string holder for the Bulldogs.
And Smart didn’t rule out that Stockton could maybe even take up punting duties for Georgia.
“We’ve got them all out there punting. You know, Gunner can punt, Puglisi can punt,” Smart said. “We’ve got some wide receivers that can punt. I’ve had to punt a couple times, so we’ll just keep going until we run out of punters.”
Notre Dame also has some things to figure out when it comes to special teams after the Fighting Irish had a kick blocked in the win over Indiana.
Given how close these two teams are, special teams figure to play a big role in the College Football Playoff game. Georgia will take on Notre Dame on Jan. 1, with the game set for an 8:45 p.m. ET start.
