Georgia doesn’t give out a Comeback Player of the Year award at its annual end-of-season banquet, the Senior Gala. But if it did, Marshall Morgan likely would have been the recipient.
The sophomore place-kicker was not returning from a devastating injury or overcoming a family tragedy. His setbacks were of his own making. But Morgan’s response to those problems – a horrendous freshman season followed by an off-season arrest – has endeared him to his coaches and teammates.
“I’m happy that he got to show everybody how good he can be,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said.
That’s pretty dog-gone good, as it turns out. Despite missing the first two games of the season, Morgan ended up making 18-of-20 field goal attempts and all 46 of his extra points. Included in his makes were a career-long 56-yarder against Tennessee and a 55-yarder against LSU.
That was good enough to earn him first-team All-SEC honors from both The Associated Press and SEC coaches. He was also a semifinalists for the Lou Groza Award, which goes each year to the nation’s top kicker.
“It feels good,” Morgan said. “I don’t know if I’m Comeback Player of the Year, but I’m proud of myself and our unit and our team. … My goal was to be All-SEC athletic and academic. I got both of them, so that feels good.”
There certainly was nothing to indicate that such a season was in the making. Morgan came to Georgia as a highly-touted kicking prospect out of Ft. Lauderdale, but his first season with the Bulldogs was one to forget. He missed six of his 14 field-goal attempts and failed on four extra point tries.
Then Morgan found himself in trouble off the field this past summer. On June 29, he was arrested on Lake Sinclair, about 90 minutes from Athens, for boating under the influence and towing a skier without a rear spotter. The 19-year-old had been drinking as he pulled some friends on inner tubes around the lake behind a jet ski.
Morgan ended up on probation for 12 months, had to do 240 hours of community service and was fined $1,456. He also was suspended for the first two games of the season.
It was a stern lesson, but Morgan got through it with the help of friends and family.
“Especially my brothers,” he said. “I’ve got three brothers and they’re always texting me and lifting me up. My roommates, Greg Pyke, Collin Barber and Trent Frix, they’re great. I’ve just got a good support system.”
Morgan also lost his job, at least for those first two weeks of the season. Walkon Patrick Beless came in and made both his attempts during Morgan’s status. Richt was adamant that the two were in an all-out competition all the way until Morgan returned to the field on Sept. 21 against North Texas. And they still compete.
“Patrick was perfect and I knew I had to work hard,” Morgan said. “That’s one of the big things that led to my success. Patty is a great kicker and every day at practice I was going against a great kicker. That’s obviously going to make you better.”
Now Morgan has taken it to a new level. He made two of his three attempts from beyond 50 yards this season and his only other miss was a 39-yard try against Tennessee. He made up for it with the 42-yard game-winner in overtime.
Morgan also made three field goals – including a 55-yarder — in a three-point win over LSU and three against Florida.
That is the potential Richt and the Bulldogs saw in Morgan when they recruited him out of South Florida. Georgia focused on Morgan despite having several other strong candidates in the state.
“When I saw Marshall’s high school tape, I was convinced that he was one of the best in the Southeast,” Richt said. “Of all the film we gathered in the Southeast and around the country — and I looked at it all, because I wanted to make the call on that one — he was the best one. He’s the guy we offered first, and thankfully he decided to come.”
Said junior receiver Chris Conley: “Marshall’s a great athlete. He’ll come out and kick 50-yard field goals for like 10 minutes straight and nail each of them from different angles. I don’t think it’s going to be hard for him to keep it up. For him it’s just a mental thing because physically he can do it.”
Richt might’ve wondered if he’d made the right call when Morgan was “banging them off of goal posts” his freshman season. But that all seems to be behind Morgan now and he’s carrying on what has been a proud place-kicking tradition at Georgia.
“No more pinballs,” Morgan said with a laugh. “My teammates have a lot of confidence in me now, the coaches, everybody. They feel more confident putting me out there for longer field goals and more field goals and it just feels great.”
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