The Morning Memory: Mighty Thorson Strikes a Blow Against the Big Orange

Georgia Bulldogs punter Brett Thorson

Punters get almost no respect. They don’t score any points. They’re not even on the field when things are going really well. And if they do much as miss by a millimeter and shank a punt they become enemy of every drunken fan in the fifty-third row.

It takes a special person to undertake that job and do it at the highest level. Brett Thorson, I’m sure I don’t need to remind you, is a pretty special guy in that way. The Thunder from Down Under had many big, beautiful kicks during his time in the Classic City. But perhaps none rivaled his punt against Tennessee during the 2022 vs. matchup in Athens.

As the late, great Larry Munson would have said, “”get the picture.” Tennessee came to town undefeated and with more swagger than they’d had in years. Hendon Hooker was a Heisman candidate at the helm of Josh Heupel’s high-powered offense. This, the Creamsicle Contingent thought, would be the year they finally taught Georgia a lesson.

And in the early going things looked promising. The Bulldogs fumbled away the first possession of the game, but the defense held the Vols to a field goal. Then the Bulldogs slowly began to assert themselves. Georgia took a 7-3 lead, but was forced to punt from deep in its own territory. Giving the Big Urnge a short field could put them behind the eight ball. In stepped Thorson. Then Thorson stepped into it.

His 75 yard punt decisively flipped the field, and was in many ways the turning point of the game. Tennessee would go three-and-out and be forced to punt from their own endzone.

In contrast to Thorson’s heroic boot, Tennessee’s Paxton Brooks managed to only dribble the ball out to the Vol 36 yard line, where Ladd McConkey fair caught it to give the ”Dawgs excellent field position. Madd Ladd then blew through the Tennessee secondary on the Red and Black’s first offensive snap, taking a Stetson Bennett pass to the house and staking Georgia to a 14-3 lead it would not relinquish.

Never, ever let anyone tell you the kicking game doesn’t matter. Like vegemite and listening to Men At Work, it’s good for what ails you.