Georgia freshman punter Drew Miller ‘excited’ ahead of Sugar Bowl opportunity

NEW ORLEANS — Freshman punter Drew Miller admitted that he was caught off guard during his first practice at Georgia when Kirby Smart‘s voice came blaring in over the speakers. Miller has come a long way since those early practices, and his work has him set to play a significant role in Wednesday’s Sugar Bowl.

Miller is viewed as the presumptive starting punter for the Bulldogs’ game against Notre Dame following Brett Thorson’s season-ending knee injury. While Miller acknowledges that he is stepping into a challenging situation with a spot in the CFP semifinals on the line, the true freshman is looking forward to the opportunity and has hopes of helping his team get the win.

“I’ve been preparing, I guess, the whole season,” Miller said. “I haven’t done anything different the last three weeks. Just repping with the team, I guess. Repping with Beau [Gardner], the starting long snapper, getting comfortable with him. Just repetitions, and it’s just gotten better and better.

“I’m excited. It’s going to be fun.”

Like quarterback Gunner Stockton, Miller will be making his first career start in Wednesday’s CFP quarterfinals game. Like Stockton, Miller may lack experience going into the game but certainly does not lack talent.

Miller hasn’t played at all since arriving at Georgia, but he proved himself as a talented punter back in high school. 

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Miller was the No. 1 punter in the 2024 cycle and closed out his high school career on a high note. He averaged 47.3 yards per punt on 30 punts in 2023 and had 17 punts land inside the 20-yard line and 12 land inside the 10. Returns were few and far between against Miller, as he allowed all of 5 return yards as a senior.

Miller also played quarterback for his Mediapolis High School team and helped those Bulldogs win eight games and reach the IHSAA Class 2A quarterfinals. 

Miller’s junior season at Mediapolis saw him average 48 yards per punt and deliver touchbacks on 51 of his 55 kickoffs. His play in 2022 earned him MaxPreps Junior All-American status.

“[Drew] would be our punter, and we think he’s really talented,” Smart said earlier this month. “He does a great job. He’s worked really hard to get the opportunity, and he punts every day in practice and does a tremendous job. He’s a very highly-recruited kid who we’ve got a lot of confidence in.”

Miller has big shoes to fill with Thorson out for the season. Thorson was a Ray Guy finalist this season after punting 42 times for 1,998 yards — an average of 47.6 yards — with 15 punts of over 50 yards and 22 punts that landed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. 

Miller explained that Thorson has been a fantastic teammate and that the veteran punter seems to always be cracking jokes. On a more serious note, Miller credited Thorson with teaching him how to handle certain in-game situations as well as little tricks of the trade that should prove handy for the freshman.

“[He’s taught me] just a little bit of everything. Like, just different types of points and those things he knows I do,” Miller said. “I’ve been learning those from him, just little different techniques.”

Miller said he doesn’t have any particular goals going into a game, and he explained he takes it one punt at a time because every situation is different. He harped on his consistency as something he felt he has improved over his freshman year, which will certainly be important given how tight Wednesday’s game promises to be.

Miller waited in the wings behind Thorson this season and did his best to improve his game in the meantime. Thorson’s injury has opened the door for Miller, and the freshman is determined to make the most of it.