Georgia’s Brett Thorson takes home Ray Guy Award as best punter in the nation
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Georgia punter Brett Thorson has provided the Bulldogs with the ultimate comfort this season when they’ve been forced to give up the ball.
With that luxury of having an elite punter, Georgia was able to pull off an SEC title repeat, taking down Alabama last Saturday in Atlanta. The senior Thorson was 1 of the main reasons for the Bulldogs’ continued success in 2025, and he was recognized in the highest way on Friday night by winning the Ray Guy Award as the nation’s best punter.
Thorson, a native of faraway Melbourne, Australia, rewarded Georgia after coming all that way to Athens, and he was rewarded after a stellar regular season by becoming the 2nd Bulldogs punter to win the Ray Guy Award. The other Georgia punter to capture the honor was Drew Butler in 2009.
In addition to winning the prestigious Ray Guy honor, Thorson was named a Walter Camp first-team All-American for his efforts in 2025. But the Ray Guy Award is what college football punters aspire to, and there was no better punter in the sport this fall.
Thorson averaged 45.2 yards on 42 punts this season, and his longest punt this year was a whopping 66 yards. He also had 21 punts inside the 20-yard line, which is a lot of moments when Thorson took the pressure off Georgia’s defense by pinning the opposition back deep in its own territory.
His talents will be on display again soon when Georgia plays its College Football Playoff quarterfinal. The Bulldogs are the 3 seed and earned a first-round bye.
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Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
