Jack Podlesny wins second straight SEC Player of the Week
For a second straight week, Georgia kicker Jack Podlesny took home SEC Special Teams Player of the Week honors, splitting the title with Missouri’s Harrison Mevis. Podlesny made all four of his field goals in the 26-22 win over the Tigers while Mevis made five, including two from greater than 50 yards.
Podlesny drilled all four of his field goal attempts and connected on both PATs during Georgia’s 26-22 road win at Missouri. After the Bulldogs trailed 13-0 in the second quarter, Podlesny cut the deficit to 10 with a 40-yard FG at the 6:36 mark in the second period. Then the fifth-year kicker trimmed the deficit to 10 again with a 34-yard FG as the first half expired.
Podlesny added another pair of field goals in the second half and the extra points on a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns to cap the Bulldogs’ comeback win. He leads the league in scoring (11.6 points/game) and ranks fourth nationally as the top kicker in the country.
“Unbelievable. Think about the pressure on each one of those kicks. I feel for the kid,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said about Podlesny’s performance after the game. “We’re repeatedly putting him out there in those pressure situations; he’s so confident and he has a way about him, he’s got a routine that he really believe in. He was the MVP of the night, him and Daijun Edwards for sure.”
Winning the award last week was the first time that Podlesny did so in his career. This week’s is a second in a row and a fourth for Georgia this season after Christopher Smith won Defensive Player of the Week following the win over Oregon in the season-opener and Brock Bowers was named Offensive Player of the Week after the South Carolina game.
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“It meant a lot to me,” Podlesny said last week after winning the award. “Honestly, I didn’t think I was hitting my best balls on a Saturday, but something that I’ve learned over the past few years is that your b-ball has got to be good. and on Saturday those were probably my b-balls and my b-balls satisfied.”
“I don’t think it’s taken for granted at all,” he added. “You know, I practice it every day. I think every head coach is unhappy when he’s gotta settle for a field goal and not a touchdown, but at the end of the day, I’m just trying to walk out there and be consistent and make the points.”
Georgia is back in action this week taking on Auburn. The Tigers are coming off of a 21-17 loss to LSU on Saturday night and enter Sanford Stadium at 3-2 on the year. As for the Bulldogs, they’re 5-0 and 29-point favorites in The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry. Kickoff time is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.
