Tag: uga kicker

UGA kicker Jack Podlesny accepts invitation to Senior Bowl

Georgia football kicker Jack Podlesny has accepted an invitation to the 2023 Senior Bowl

Georgia Bulldogs kicker Jack Podlesny, who has already accepted an invitation to play in the 2023 Hula Bowl, has accepted an invitation to the 2023 Reese’s Senior Bowl.

Will Podlesny play in both events? It is completely feasible for the senior kicker to participate in both postseason all-star games.

The 2023 Reese’s Senior Bowl will be played in Mobile, Alabama, at 2:30 p.m. ET on Feb. 4, 2023. Orlando, Florida, hosts the 2023 Hula Bowl, which will be played at noon ET on Jan. 14.

Entering the national championship, Podlesny is 25 of 30 on field goal attempts. The senior kicker is perfect on extra points throughout his career at Georgia. Podlesny has served as Georgia’s primary kicker for the last three seasons.

Podlesny was named as the 2022 SEC special teams player of the year.

Georgia Bulldogs place kicker Jack Podlesny celebrates after kicking the game-winning field goal during the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl against the Cincinnati Bearcats. Syndication: The Enquirer

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Podlesny accepting a pair of postseason invitations means that he is expected to enter the 2023 NFL draft. Georgia will likely look to Jared Zirkel to handle the kicking duties for the 2023 college football season.

Podlesny could be one of the only kickers selected in the 2023 NFL draft.

Zirkel, a redshirt sophomore, will face competition from incoming freshman Peyton Woodring, who is ranked as the No. 1 kicker in the class of 2023.

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Georgia’s Jack Podlesny accepts invitation to the Hula Bowl

UGA football kicker Jack Podlesny has accepted an invitation to the 2023 Hula Bowl

Georgia Bulldogs kicker Jack Podlesny has accepted an invitation to play in the 2023 Hula Bowl. The 2023 Hula Bowl will be played on Jan. 14 in Orlando, Florida.

Podlesny was named as the 2022 SEC special teams player of the year.

Entering the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Podlesny was 23 of 26 on field goal attempts. The senior kicker was perfect on extra points throughout his career at Georgia.

Podlesny accepting an invitation to the Hula Bowl means he is expected to enter the 2023 NFL draft. Georgia will likely look to Jared Zirkel to handle the kicking duties for the 2023 college football season.

Zirkel, a redshirt sophomore, will face competition from incoming freshman Peyton Woodring, who is ranked as the No. 1 kicker in the class of 2023.

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Kirby Smart, UGA award scholarships to pair of walk-ons

Kirby Smart, UGA football awarded scholarships to pair of walk-ons this offseason

The Georgia Bulldogs have awarded scholarships to a key pair of walk-ons this offseason. It is refreshing to see Kirby Smart and Georgia reward one of their own in a day and age where there are so many potential transfers and coaches are signing as many recruits as possible.

Georgia football coach Kirby Smart has shared that he put a couple of deserving Dawgs on scholarship after the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Here’s who he rewarded for their efforts to the Georgia football program:

Kirby Smart: “What Rodrigo has overcome is a story for the ages”

Georgia football HC Kirby Smart discusses how amazing UGA K Rodrigo Blankenship’s Bulldog career has been.

In Kirby Smart’s post-game presser tailing Saturday’s home win over Texas A&M, the coach used his opening remarks to congratulate Georgia’s newest career leader in points, Rodrigo Blankenship.

Blankenship, who also has the highest career field goal percentage of any Bulldog past or present, was flawless against the Aggies and scored 13 of the Dawgs’ 19 points on senior night.

It’s strange to think that the most automatic placekicker in school history didn’t start out on scholarship.

“What Rodrigo has done and overcome is a story for the ages,” Smart said.

Blankenship arrived in Athens as a preferred walk-on, meaning he had a semi-promised scholarship that would be awarded by the end of one season should he progress as the coaches hope.

He did his job, a scholarship still wasn’t awarded, and his dad wrote an open letter addressing the coaching staff that Georgia fans still remember.

The kicker responded by keeping his head down, persisting, and consequently earning his scholarship.

Smart continued:

 “To be a walk-on, to not getting a scholarship, to continue to work, to get a scholarship, and to continue to grind and be as consistent as he has been in some of the toughest conditions you can ask a kicker to kick…he’s just been tremendous.”

The senior out of Sprayberry High School has long been a fan favorite for the obvious football-related rationale. He is, as Smart later remarked, a “weapon.”

His habits of donning rec specs and lacing up the same Nike Mercurial cleats he’s worn since his high school soccer days have earned him fans nationwide for more frivolous reasons.

Blankenship’s tenacity, positive attitude, and grit should earn him even more.