Georgia junior punter Drew Butler entered this season hoping to be effective enough to earn a second consecutive Ray Guy Award. Bulldogs junior kicker Blair Walsh has a similar goal of winning the Lou Groza Award after being a finalist a year ago.
Saturday afternoon at South Carolina, Butler and Walsh will encounter someone who could factor into each of those honors.
Gamecocks fifth-year senior Spencer Lanning was the only Southeastern Conference player who handled both punting and place-kicking duties last season. He's working both jobs again this season and working them well after making 36- and 42-yard field goals in last Thursday's 41-13 rout of Southern Miss while averaging 52.5 yards on two punts.
"You guys want to build somebody up for punter of the year or kicker of the year, go ahead and start with Spencer," South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said. "I don't think publicity and praise will affect him. He's a good one."
The 6-foot, 194-pounder from Rock Hill walked on in 2006 and redshirted that season. He scored his first point in a 2007 win over South Carolina State and became the starting punter in '08, averaging 42.1 yards on 28 attempts.
After handling both roles last year and making 17 of 20 field-goal tries, Lanning was selected as one of four team captains for this season.
"He is the first punter, kicker, walk-on guy that was voted captain in my coaching career," Spurrier said.
Of course, supplanting either of the two preseason All-SEC candidates will be difficult.
Butler led the nation in net punting last year with a 48.1-yard average and had six punts for a 46.7-yard average in Saturday's 55-7 stomping of Louisiana-Lafayette. Walsh made field goals of 52 and 48 yards against the Ragin' Cajuns after going 20-of-22 on attempts last season.
The two Bulldogs each arrived at Georgia on scholarship, Butler in 2007 and Walsh in '08.
"Right now, we've got it the way you'd love to have it," Georgia coach Mark Richt said. "A guy doesn't have to do double duty, so we don't have to worry about the fatigue issue. Some guys can do it, and Lanning is doing a great job of it, but I wouldn't trade our kicking situation with anybody in the country right now."
Lanning made five field goals last year at Georgia but had an extra-point attempt blocked by DeAngelo Tyson early in the fourth quarter. That point came back to haunt the Gamecocks, who drive inside the 10-yard line in the final minute before losing the ball on downs in the 41-37 Bulldogs victory.
That is the only extra point Lanning has missed in 35 career attempts, while Walsh is now 99-for-99 after converting seven times Saturday.
"He's the best we've got at both, and that's why he does both," Spurrier said.
Odds and ends
The Bulldogs held a one-hour workout Monday that included junior receiver A.J. Green, whose status remains up in the air. ... Sophomore tight end Arthur Lynch did not play against ULL and could be a candidate to redshirt due to Georgia's depth at that position. ... Spurrier after last Thursday's win: "We need to score 50 some time. It's good to score 50 if you can."