There are 96 days remaining until the back-to-back national champions, the Georgia Bulldogs, kickoff of their 2023 season against UT Martin.
Let’s take a look back at one of the best players in UGA history to rock the number 96, kicker Jack Podlesny, a two-time national champion.
Picked up as an undrafted free agent following the 2023 NFL draft by the Minnesota Vikings, Podlesny left Georgia as one of the greatest kickers in program history.
A 2018 recruit out of St. Simons Island, Georgia, Podlesny walked on to the team and redshirted his freshman year. In 2019, Podlesny was behind Georgia legend Rodrigo Blankenship on the depth chart.
Blankenship left Georgia after the 2019 season, leaving UGA fans worried about the kicker position. But Podlesny quickly put those nerves to rest and finished the season 13 of 16 on field goals, 38 for 38 on extra points, and 12 of his 21 kickoffs resulted in touchbacks. That season, he was also a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award, given to the nation’s top kicker.
Additionally, his big moment came against Cincinnati in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl where he hit the game-winner from 53 yards out with three seconds to go.
Jack Podlesny nails the career-best 53-yarder in the closing seconds to give Georgia the win over Cincinnati in the Peach Bowl! 😱
🎥: @SportsCenter
pic.twitter.com/n3S7GjQzkB— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) January 1, 2021
In 2021, the year Georgia won its first title since 1980, Podlesny connected on 22 of 27 field goal attempts, including a season-long 49-yarder in the College Football Playoff National Championship game vs. Alabama.
Jack Podlesny 49-yd FG good#GoDawgs 6 #RollTide 9 Q2 pic.twitter.com/n3EVDEp7bt
— Sᴘᴏʀᴛs 24/7 (@Sports_24x7_) January 11, 2022
In 2022, he was an Associated Press and Coaches’ All-SEC First Team member. He hit on 26 of 31 field goals and his 151 points accounted for are a single season record at UGA, surpassing his previous record of 137.
He finished his UGA career with 365 points scored, fifth all-time in UGA history. Keep in mind he only played three seasons, and one of them was a shortened 2020 season in which UGA only played 10 games.
