‘A story for the ages’: Georgia’s Blankenship sets school record in final home game

On a midweek afternoon, Rodrigo Blankenship sat in the training room for some maintenance work on his powerful kicking leg. He noticed the running backs had recently finished position meetings and targeted fellow senior Brian Herrien for an important conversation.

You see, Georgia players run through the famed “Power G” banner before each game to be greeted by an electrifying Sanford Stadium crowd. Herrien usually leads the pack and breaks through the logo between a parade of Redcoat Band members. Blankenship, for his last game in Athens as a Bulldog, had a strong desire for that to change.

“Yo, Brian, I have to ask you a question, man,” Blankenship, the Bulldogs’ fifth-year place-kicker, recalled postgame Saturday. “Could I do it for our last game?”

Herrien accepted Blankenship’s request, and even offered to clear space for the weapon who has saved Georgia on numerous occasions throughout his career.

After being honored in an on-field ceremony alongside his parents, girlfriend and head coach Kirby Smart, his moment came. He burst through the banner cleanly and seemingly 100,000 roars for Blankenship followed.

“I’d been thinking about it all day. I wanted to break through and thought it would be amazing,” Blankenship said. “It was everything I dreamt of.”

His day began and ended in the same fashion — ceremoniously. Blankenship carried No. 4 Georgia to a 19-13 win over Texas A&M with four field goals. Two of them came amidst a downpour, and his third made him the all-time leading scorer in school history with 418 points.

Blankenship converted from 41, 49, 37 and 31 yards to beat the previous record set by Blair Walsh, who had 412 points and was in attendance. Former Auburn place-kicker Daniel Carlson holds the all-time scoring record with 480 points; Blankenship is second.

Smart, who said Georgia “certainly helped him” reach the achievement by granting plenty of opportunities with an inconsistent offense, revealed the news to Blankenship in the locker room.

He walked over to the hedges after the victory to celebrate with fellow seniors and heard chants of “ROD-RI-GO” ring through the student section for the final time. His teammates’ celebration carried a similar volume, much like Smart’s last team-wide announcement about Blankenship when Georgia placed him on scholarship in 2017.

“You know everybody loves Rod,” Smart said. “Everybody went nuts. Rod took a bow. He didn’t say much, but he smiles and does his job.”

Blankenship didn’t try to focus on his personal accolade much, but he’s quite the historian. He knew the significance of the honor based on the kickers who previously wore the Georgia uniform. He rattled off a series of names, who were referred to as “the most-amazing kickers to ever play college ball”: Walsh, Brandon Coutu, Marshall Morgan, Kevin Butler, Rex Robinson and Billy Bennett.

He attributes his success to the success of those around him, but much of it has to do with his tireless work ethic. There’s an intricate routine put in place by Butler — a former student assistant — that allows Blankenship to balance improvement and rest (not hit 2,000 balls in a week, he said). That involves knowing when special-teams periods occur in practice, not doing live kicking repetitions on Mondays and Wednesdays while using Tuesdays and Thursdays as his “big days.”

Smart might see him in the upper turf fields getting extra reps in from his office. He also recalls seeing Blankenship working persistently in the offseason with his dad, Ken Blankenship. All of the detailed preparation results in production when it matters most for Georgia. Saturday’s win served as a prime example of that for Blankenship, because the Bulldogs aren’t victors without his makes.

In many aspects, this senior day fixated around Blankenship. He emerged as the star amongst the group, and has done so for quite some time. He’s legendary around these parts, most notably for those iconic goggles. Each time the place-kicker turned his head, someone cheered for Blankenship. He drilled field goals in inopportune conditions. He had tight end Charlie Woerner carry him off of the field after the near-50-yard make and he amped up the crowd by waving both arms after yet another touchback.

“I was very close to tearing up,” Blankenship said. “It was surreal to be in that moment. This stadium is the best in the world and we have the best in the country. It was a really special feeling to go out there and be lined up with my guys.”

For Blankenship, this four-hour stretch could’ve been written like a Hollywood script.

Four years ago, he walked on at Georgia at a time when the program didn’t invest a scholarship in place-kickers out of Sprayberry High School in Cobb County, Ga. He redshirted his freshman season, then entered year two in a kicking competition with Macon-area product William Ham.

Ham won the starting kicker position to start the 2016 season and went 3 of 7 with some crucial misses in close games — North Carolina, Nicholls State (fans definitely want to be reminded of that near-disaster in the midst of a 10-win season) and Missouri. In the team’s blowout loss at Mississippi, Blankenship missed his first-ever attempt, but Georgia opted to stick with the then-redshirt freshman for the remainder of the game. From then on, Blankenship never looked back.

What followed was a string of moments that made the fan base, Georgia coaches and teammates fall in love. He nailed four field goals in a narrow win over Kentucky, wore the famed specs on television and later wore them to an appearance with local media. He received his coveted scholarship after the program-turning win at Notre Dame. He hit the 55-yard field goal to keep Georgia alive in its eventual Rose Bowl win. He pulled off a similar feat in overtime of the national title loss.

“This is a story for the ages,” Smart said. “He has been tremendous and really become a weapon.”

Throughout his final year, the Blankenship legend grew. He’s hit big kicks, but also missed the final attempt in the Bulldogs’ lone home loss since 2016 to South Carolina. He’s a Lou Groza semifinalist for the second-consecutive season. An NFL scout said Saturday that he’s probably the best kicker in the country.

His four makes against the Aggies make him 23 of 26 (90%) on the season. Blankenship also has 47 touchbacks on the season, which is the sixth-best total nationally.

“That’s what Rod does,” said safety Richard LeCounte. “He’s special. We take Rod for granted, because he’s automatic.”

Many say he’s the favorite for the Groza award. Smart, on Oct. 7, lobbied for a Heisman Trophy race. Move over, Chase Young and Joe Burrow. Blankenship’s teammates concur after a 4-for-4 showing.

Shall the campaigns begin?

“Hell yeah,” linebacker Monty Rice said. “Excuse my language. For sure. He drilled those field goals today. He takes care of his body at a crazy level. It’s no surprise that he kicks them like he does.”

Said receiver Tyler Simmons: “I’ve never seen a kicker that can consistently do this. … Goggles and all. Shoot, Rod for Heisman.”

Blankenship stood on the pedestal to speak to media inside Sanford Stadium one last time. Another chapter of the legend-like’s figure career is written. It still hasn’t hit him yet.

But before bowing a final time in his college career, he got to experience a first: leading his team through the tunnel as the Bulldogs’ spotlight.

“I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way,” Blankenship said.

This story was originally published November 23, 2019 at 10:25 PM.