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Georgia adds Duke kicker Charlie Ham out of transfer portal

Palmber-Thombsby:Palmer Thombs•03/30/24•

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Charlie Ham
Nov 25, 2023; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils place kicker Charlie Ham (44) kicks the football during the second half of the game against Pittsburgh Panthers at Wallace Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-USA TODAY Sports

Georgia added the commitment of a transfer portal kicker on Saturday as Duke’s Charlie Ham announced on Instagram he’ll be headed to Athens for his final year of eligibility.

A native of Atlanta and a product of The Westminster School, Ham spent five seasons with the Blue Devils, redshirting his first year on campus while also having a COVID-year of eligibility remaining thanks to 2020. He has handled kickoff duties each of the last four and was the team’s primary kicker in both 2020 and 2021 before losing the job halfway through the 2022 campaign.

As a kicker, Ham had made 36 of his 50 career attempts including a long of 50 yards against Northwestern. He earned Lou Groza ‘Star of the Week’ for that performance, matching a carer-high of 12 points on three field goals and three PATs in the win over the Wildcats. It was the second time he had been recognized for such a performance, previously earning ACC Specialist of the Week in 2020 after his outing against Syracuse – also knocking through 12 points including field goals of 21, 36 and 45 yards. Ham was a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award, given to the country’s top kicker, in 2020.

Even after falling from his position as Duke’s primary placekicker when he struggled to start the 2022 season with six misses in the first seven games, Ham held on to his spot as a kickoff specialist. In 196 career kickoffs, Ham has 98 career touchbacks.

Ham will look to compete for Georgia’s kickoff specialist position with Jared Zirkel, transferring to Texas A&M and returning kicker Peyton Woodring, a sophomore, handling field goal duties. In 103 kickoff attempts last season, Zirkel recorded 67 touchbacks. Woodring only attempted two, both in the Orange Bowl, with one touchback, but was impressive for a freshman kicker making 21 of his 25 attempts including 16 straight to end the regular season.

Ham isn’t the first specialist Georgia has added by way of the transfer portal either. In an effort to try and replace long snapper William Mote, the Bulldogs brought in UCLA’s Beau Gardner who played in 13 games for the Bruins in 2023. Gardner and Ham join Georgia’s seven primary additions from the transfer portal: Florida RB Trevor Etienne, Vanderbilt WR London Humphreys, Miami (Fla.) WR Colbie Young, USC WR Michael Jackson III, Stanford TE Ben Yurosek, South Carolina DL Xzavier McLeod and Alabama DB Jake Pope.

Georgia is in the midst of spring practice, and Ham won’t join the group until the summer. The Bulldogs hold their ninth session and first scrimmage on Saturday, two weeks out from the annual G-Day spring game at Sanford Stadium on April 13th (1:00 p.m. ET, SECN+).

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