Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
MARK LONG
Associated Press
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Florida's place-kicking job is open again, an all-too-familiar occurrence for the fourth-ranked Gators as they prepare for the Southeastern Conference championship game.
Chris Hetland has missed nine of 12 attempts this season, including every try outside 30 yards.
His errant kicks - he has missed wide right twice and wide left seven times - haven't cost Florida (11-1) any games, but they have made the outcomes closer than anyone wearing orange and blue would prefer.
"Of course I'm frustrated," Hetland said. "Nobody likes to go out there and not perform well, but I just have to stick it out and keep practicing."
Hetland's frustration began in the season opener, when coach Urban Meyer passed on a 47-yard field goal and went for it on fourth-and-13. Chris Leak was sacked for a 10-yard loss.
"I just wish it would've started out better, the season as a whole," Hetland said. "If I would've made the first couple kicks, it would've been a different ballgame."
Hetland, a senior from Leesburg, Ga., didn't attempt a field goal in the first two games. He ended up trying his first one at Tennessee and in front of a raucous crowd of about 109,000 - most of them cheering for him to screw up.
He was wide left twice, from 52 and 47 yards, but the Gators won 21-20.
He waited two weeks for another chance. But he was wide left from 36 yards against Alabama. He missed from the same distance the following week against LSU.
After the 0-for-4 start, Meyer opened the kicking competition to Eric Nappy, Jonathan Phillips and Joey Ijjas.
"It's not exciting that he's missing," Nappy said. "I feel for him. It's terrible, but obviously I want a chance to show everybody what I can do."
Hetland has managed to win the job back every week in practice - and could do the same before the Gators face No. 8 Arkansas in Atlanta on Saturday night.
He altered his mechanics several times, hoping a slight change will make a big difference. But the outcome has remained about the same - more misses than makes.
He missed twice against Georgia in October, from 39 and 42 yards, but Florida won 21-14.
He missed a 30-yarder against South Carolina two weeks later. The Gators blocked an extra point, then a long field goal as time expired to preserve a 17-16 victory.
He missed two more last week against Florida State that would have put the Gators ahead 20-0 in the first half. Instead, Florida hung on for a 21-14 victory.
Only four teams in the country - Kent State, Utah State, New Mexico State and Temple - have made three or fewer field goals this season.
No one knows what is causing Hetland's struggles. After all, he made 13 of 16 attempts as a walk-on last season, including all three in a 16-7 win against the Volunteers, and earned a scholarship this past spring.
"They're very close," Meyer said. "He's hitting them well. He's just missing them. We're working on it. He's not our kicker as of now. But he's going to compete and try to win that job back."
His teammates remain confident, but they're also puzzled.
"We expect to make them," receiver and team captain Jemalle Cornelius said. "I don't know really what goes on in the games, but every day in practice that's what we see. So usually if a guy hits them in practice, it carries over to the game. I don't really know what's going on in that situation."
Some question Meyer's decision to stick with Hetland and wonder whether the coach would do the same had Hetland cost the Gators a victory. Meyer stands by his belief that the players who practice best should play. He also backs Hetland.
"We have a very capable kicker in Chris Hetland, and he's struggled most of the year," Meyer said. "But I have confidence if we put him out there he's going to hit it."