Web posted December 30, 1997

By Andy Johnston
Staff Writer

TAMPA, Fla. -- Hap Hines can only hope.

Georgia's sophomore kicker is sure, no positive, he has snapped out of the slump that cost him his job in November. But it's hard to tell. Hines hasn't kicked in a game situation since missing a 38-yard field goal in that nearly-devastating 45-34 loss to Auburn 45 days ago.

``I've sat my time,'' Hines said Monday. ``I don't want to sit anymore.''

But it's not up to him to decide that. Georgia coach Jim Donnan said he will not decide until Wednesday on whether Hines or Dax Langley will be the Bulldogs' kicker for Thursday's Outback Bowl against Wisconsin (ESPN, 11 a.m.).

``It's not our plan to kick many field goals,'' Donnan said. ``We haven't been too good at doing that this year.''

It's not hard to see why Donnan is upset his with team's terrible kicking game. Hines and Langley have combined to miss four extra points and seven field goals. Hines missed field goals in four games, and the team's longest field goal is a 32-yarder by Hines on his first attempt of the season against Arkansas State.

Ironically, last year, Hines booted a 54-yard field against Kentucky -- the school's longest in 12 seasons -- and Langley holds Georgia's high school mark with a 63-yard field goal.

Remember, Georgia is a school with three kickers -- Kevin Butler, Todd Peterson and John Kasay -- currently in the NFL.

``It's typical for every player to go into a slump,'' Hines said. ``This is one of the times I have to admit that I was in a slump. After a few weeks of not playing well and trying to avoid all the flames and hazards that go along with kicking, the only way to go was to jump into the fire. That's the pressure to perform. It's the pressure to do well.''

The low point for Hines occurred during the week following a 23-13 victory over Kentucky on Oct. 25. After missing one field goal and having both a field goal and an extra point attempt blocked, Hines became the focal point of Georgia fans across the South and one newspaper article was headlined ``Hap-less.''

``On all the radio shows and talk shows, people were crucifying me for a while,'' he said. ``It stung then, but it hasn't bothered me for a while. That comes with the territory. That comes with the job.''

In Langley's defense, punting has been his main focus over the past four years, and he finished his career third all-time with 178 punts and 6,993 yards.

``It's Hines' job,'' Langley said. ``Let him do it.''

And while Georgia heads into the game with struggling kicking game, Wisconsin's is headlined by All-Big Ten kicker Matt Davenport, who won two games with last-second field goals and has been nicknamed ``Money'' by his teammates. This season, Davenport made 34 of 35 extra point attempts and 14 of 17 field goal attempts.

``I hope Hines has been practicing,'' Donnan said. ``We don't need him where he was a month or six weeks ago. It's good to see him hitting them in practice. But there have been weeks when he's made them in practice and missed them in the game and where he's missed them in practice and made them in the games.''