Submitted by admin on Sat, 2005-10-08 03:00. ::
For witnesses of Georgia Tech's 17-14 loss to N.C. State on Thursday — when Bell missed a pair of field goal attempts — that's not all that comforting. Bell, of course, doesn't feel any better about it.
Now, the sophomore is searching for a solution to what has grown from misfortune to malady. Tech, meanwhile, has no obvious replacements for Bell, no one to spell him through this dry period or relieve him altogether if his misfires go uncorrected.
"It's one of those slumps," Bell said. "A baseball player has a hitting slump, a pitcher has an off night. I have to get back to the basics, work on timing or a number of things. I could not be prepared mentally. I don't know."
"No, I sure can't," Gailey said. "I'll be the first to admit that I can't go coach those guys and tell them exactly what they are doing wrong. But he's not in sync like he was last year. That's obvious."
Gailey said walk-on kickoff specialist Mohamed Yahiaoui — who was replaced by Bell on kickoffs in a loss to Virginia Tech but was back in the role vs. N.C. State — could be an option. So could junior David Jordan. But Gailey doesn't see matters coming to that point.
"Those are two guys we could turn to, but I don't anticipate that happening at all," Gailey said. "We'll look at [Bell's kicks] very closely and see if there is anything mechanically different than last year. We just have to keep simulating in practice what we'll do in games. We do that already, but we'll keep working at it."
Bell said he's unable to single out any significant differences between this year and last season. He has a new snapper (Gavin Tarquinio) and holder (Kyle Manley), but that part of the process appears clean.
Bell missed just two field goals last season — one in the season opener, one from 48 yards in the Champs Sports Bowl. He had a career-long 47-yarder against Duke.
Now, he's on a run of a different, disconcerting type. To get through it, the usually light-hearted Bell cracked a joke — even if, deep down, he's not laughing at all.
Against Virginia Tech, one of his field goals was blocked. The second came near the end of a game that was well out of the Yellow Jackets' reach. Bell, who had a mildly strained groin, thought his work for the night was done, and was already packing up his kicking gear on the sideline.
Thursday, with the game in the balance, his shortcomings weren't so easily dismissed. The Jackets led 14-10 when he missed a 24-yard field goal with 7:52 left. Moments later, N.C. State scored on an 80-yard slant.
"Everybody has their slumps," defensive tackle Joe Anoai said. "Michael Jordan had slumps. You can't say it came down to two field goals, because it could've been a lot of different things. You can't pin it all one guy. We're a team, and we win and lose as a team. Blaming it one guy is taking the easy way out."
"I put all the blame on me right now," he said. "I'll watch film and work on it more. I'll take 1,000 reps until it's perfect, until it's involuntary."
• David Jordan. The junior made six of 10 field goals as a senior at Brookstone High in Columbus. He's never kicked a field goal at Tech.
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