With just a few days left until the season began, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart gave an update on everything from his running backs to his defensive stars.
While almost every player will be available for the Bulldogs' Week 1 matchup against the Marshall Thundering Herd, one key athlete may be resigned to the sideline.
Brett Thorson, Georgia's veteran punter, suffered an injury to his ACL and MCL in his left knee during the SEC Championship game against the Texas Longhorns last season. Then, Thorson was sidelined for the Bulldogs' Sugar Bowl matchup against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Now, it's still unclear if the dynamic punter will be available for the Georgia Bulldogs' first game of the regular season.
"He has continued to kick. And I don’t know that he’s going to be kicking in this game. That hasn’t been decided yet," Smart said. "He has punted more reps each day, and he’s gone up. But in terms of what I call live kicking... meaning we don’t hit our kickers, but he has not done a lot of live kicking. So, it’ll be one of those times, one of the things we decide by the end of the week.”
Why is Brett Thorson so important to Georgia?
Beyond his ability to pin opposing teams within the 10-yard line on almost every single punt, Thorson has proven himself to be more than just a punter.
In Georgia's 31-17 victory over Tennessee in the 2024 regular season, Thorson went viral for a picture-perfect take down of one of the Volunteers' return men. Then, Smart had the punter give the entire team a tutorial on how to tackle better.
Only an Australian could pull this off!! 😂 😂
— ESPN Australia & NZ (@ESPNAusNZ) November 19, 2024
Melbourne's own 'Stone Cold' @brett_thorson had a HUGE tackle for the Georgia Bulldogs against Tennessee... and then this happened! pic.twitter.com/Edq1P6rT6z
The tackle was the first of Thorson's career, having spent the last three years on the Bulldogs' roster without having to step up to the plate to bring down an opponent. Yet, at 6-foot-2 and 235 pounds, the tackle shouldn't have been all that surprising.
Over the last three seasons, he has kicked 110 punts, earning a resounding 5,021 yards (an average of 45.6 yards per punt).
The SEC requires teams to release a weekly injury report ahead of their games so fans will know before kick-off whether or not Thorson will be in rotation. Georgia and Marshall are scheduled to play at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Aug. 30. The game will be available on ESPN.