Peyton Woodring had the distinction of being the first true freshman Georgia football placekicker to start a season opener since Marshall Morgan in 2012.

It’s been a rocky start for the Lafayette, La., product who was rated the nation’s No. 1 kicker in the 2023 class.

Woodring is 4 of 7 on field goals. That’s 57.1 percent, which ranks tied for 83^rd nationally and is tied for second worst in the SEC, according to cfbstats.com.

More: How long could Georgia football offensive tackle Amarius Mims be out? We asked a surgeon

More: Looking at Carson Beck as Georgia football QB after three games and where he can improve

Georgia could turn Saturday against UAB to Jared Zirkel, a fourth-year junior from Kerrville, Texas, who has only had one field goal try with the Bulldogs. He made a 21-yarder at South Carolina last season.

“We’re having competition like I said all along," coach Kirby Smart said after practice Tuesday. "It was going to be open regardless. We're competing every week. The competition every week has been pretty consistent. They've been pretty even but with the outcome of the game, you know you have to continue to open it up."

Smart said: "We did a bunch of exercises to try to put some pressure on those guys today. We'll do the same thing throughout the week and make a decision. It's minute to minute and hour by hour.”

On the positive side, Woodring has made all 15 extra points.

Quarterback Carson Beck, the holder on field goals, has tried to keep Woodring positive.

“I’m like, you, we believe in you, you’re good,” Beck said. “Let’s go. Just have confidence in yourself and just have fun.”

Smart said he’s tried to gauge how Woodring is doing emotionally, especially since it’s his first year on campus.

“You try to talk to him, and we've got guys on our team that he's close to,” Smart said. “We've got guys that work with the kickers within our organization that do a good job, and you just try to get information, and you try to help them every way you can. The first thing that'll help him is scoring touchdowns, because extra points are easier than field goals.”

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Where Georgia football stands with Peyton Woodring after shaky start