Travis Bell

C

Crazy4tech

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I think I saw a stat that said Bell is .500 on fg attempts in his career at Tech. It hurts to see such a fine kicker struggle like he has. Seems like the Scott Sisson bug has bit him hard. Sisson was incredible in college but in the pros struggled badly. I know Bell is still in college but ever since his freshman year he has been snake bit. He has the leg and the talent but in his head he has doubts. As Brad Chambers said, "kicking is 90% mental, if you think your gonna miss the kick, you probably are."

Sure wish Bell could snap out of it, he use to be such a weapon. Now he is a liability, almost cost us the Maryland game this year, if he makes one more kick vs NCST last year we win or at least tie, and on and on.

Ya'll think there is any hope or will he go down as a huge flop?

GO JACKETS!!!
 
I don't know where you saw that stat, but there is no way it is right. He went I think 15 for 17 his Freshman year. He may be about .500 since then, but he was a Freshman All-American before the wheels came off.
 
I stand corrected, he is 30 out of 47 in his career to date.

('04) - 15 out of 17 fgs - 88%
('05) - 11 out of 21 fgs - 52%
('06) - 4 out of 9 fgs - 44%

Not good. Since 2004 he is exactly 50% as a kicker and most of his missed are no where near 50 yards. He missed a 36 yard fg vs Clemson, a 30 something vs Maryland.

Come on Travis, we believe in you, snap out of it!!
 
Crazy4tech said:
I stand corrected, he is 30 out of 47 in his career to date.

('04) - 15 out of 17 fgs - 88%
('05) - 11 out of 21 fgs - 52%
('06) - 4 out of 9 fgs - 44%

Not good. Since 2004 he is exactly 50% as a kicker and most of his missed are no where near 50 yards. He missed a 36 yard fg vs Clemson, a 30 something vs Maryland.

Come on Travis, we believe in you, snap out of it!!
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Not a doubt in my mind that he will come out and have a great season. His Sophmore slump is just a little late coming in, that's all. He'll do just fine.
 
I don't think his '06 stats are actually as bad as they look, because out of his 9 kicks, there was a mishandled snap (against Md) on one and another against Samford (I think) that was very long that the coaches wanted to give him a shot at (50+ yarder). There actually may have been 2 mishandled snaps?

Anyway take away 2 misses that are not his fault and he goes up to 57% which ain't good, but much better than 44%.

But is certainly is an area of concern.
 
Yeah it's a real shame, after his freshman season he was put on the Groza preseason watch list by some publications and I though he would be a sure thing. At least better than his 50% over the last two years, boy was I wrong.
 
Didn't the kicker at IIRC Oregon have a game where he missed the three extra points and next season won the Groza award?

I certainly hope Bell snaps out of it. He made field goals earlier in the year that we took for granted and I hope he can continue doing that.
 
floridajacket said:
Didn't the kicker at IIRC Oregon have a game where he missed the three extra points and next season won the Groza award?
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The kicker plays for Oregon State and yes he missed 3 PATs against LSU in 2004 and then won the Groza Award last year in 2005. Kickers are complete headcases IMO.
 
I disagree entirely.

Being a successful place kicker is not the same as trying out for triage with a good leg and little else. You actually have to deliver or you suck.

Travis has not delivered which I beelieve is an indictment of the whole "Chan Gailey can't/doesn't want to recruit kickers."

CCG's strategy to withhold a scholly and accept walk-ons for kickers is smart in principle but Chan DOES NOT FOLLOW UP.

This ineffectiveness reminds me of the debacle that GEORGIA TECH has suffered on special teams. WHERE IS THE COACHING? It's not there. If it was, they should be fired. It is a disgrace that CCG simply has not addressed properly. Travis and our special team players deserve better.
 
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"Chan Gailey can't/doesn't want to recruit kickers."
This seems odd since his coaching strategy relies on field goals a lot.
 
CCG's strategy to withhold a scholly and accept walk-ons for kickers is smart in principle but Chan DOES NOT FOLLOW UP.
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Well, currently the strategy as you describe it isn' working very well, however he did recruit and had on scholarship a 4(5?) star recruit who happened to be a place kicker that rarely got in a game and is out of the program after his 3rd year.

Maybe he can't, maybe he won't, I don't know, but we DO have a new ST coach this year. Let's give him another season to make a difference. ST play has improved over the course of the season.
 
This may be the single dumbest post on Stingtalk this year. Fact: we have used scholarships on kickers - who haven't panned out. Fact: Many schools use preferred walkons to entice kickers and "pay out" for those who make in on the field. Fact: we have also offered kickers who have gone elsewhere (check the FSU kicker for one). and one big Question: what are you talking about? What follow up is Bell due from Gailey? How does coaching cause a kicker to go from 15-17 one year to 11-21 the next? Get a clue.
 
I think I remember reading something a couple of years back that Travis sustained a leg injury between his freshman and sophomore seasons. If that is true, that could be the only explanation for his almost complete ineffectiveness at this point in his career. Although the injury may be healed, so to speak, but it obviously effected the mechanics of his "delivery" and his confidence.
 
I wonder if its as simple as his girlfriend dumped him? I know being a former kicker if your head is all messed up it can really screw you up. Then again, he has had more than enough time to get it together.

My personal opinion is he has an amazing freshman season, struggled in his soph season and it shook his confidence ever since. Some can move on and get it done others dwell on it and are always thinking, "shoot I will probably miss this kick too."
 
I said this in another thread, but I believe that we should give Durant a try at kicking field goals or even Muhammed Yaweeeeeeooooowwwwwwiiiiiii. Because quite frankly, we have nothing to lose and if we do not fix this kicking situation it will most certainly cost us a close game.
 
ncjacket said:
Does Durant even place kick? Just because he punts doesn't mean he kicks.
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I don't know, but at this point we have nothing to lose by trying Durant at placekicker IMO.
 
Crazy4tech said:
I wonder if its as simple as his girlfriend dumped him? I know being a former kicker if your head is all messed up it can really screw you up. Then again, he has had more than enough time to get it together.

My personal opinion is he has an amazing freshman season, struggled in his soph season and it shook his confidence ever since. Some can move on and get it done others dwell on it and are always thinking, "shoot I will probably miss this kick too."
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No, assuming the girl that wears his jersey and sits with his family is his gf, he should be pretty happy away from the field in that respect.
 
How many has he kicked out of bounds? I don't honestly remember more than one or two.
 
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