Photo by: Austin Perryman/MSU Athletics
Something Special Brewing On Special Teams
August 18, 2021 | Football
STARKVILLE – At some schools, special teams might be more of a forgotten phase of football.
But not at Mississippi State.
The Bulldogs stress the importance of the kicking game with daily drills at practice and return a majority of their specialists from a year ago. Kicker Brandon Ruiz is back along with punter Tucker Day, kick returner Lideatrick Griffin and punt returner Austin Williams.
"It's always good anytime you've got experience back," said special teams coordinator Matt Brock, who also doubles as outside linebackers coach. "I think the thing that we're trying to do is create competition always at all those positions."
Day has been MSU's starting punter for the past three seasons. The redshirt senior has punted 127 times in his career for 5,269 yards (41.5 avg.) with a long of 70 yards, which he has done twice. He posted a career-best 42.9-yard average in 2020.
And although Day is the incumbent starter, Aidan Martin and Marshall Nicholls are creating the competition that Brock is looking for as a coach.
"We've got two guys who have come in and pushed Tucker," Brock said. "Even though Tucker has the experience and is coming back as the starter on paper, he has to get better daily to make sure he's pushing himself and elevating his game because those guys are doing a nice job as well."
Day is also the holder for field goals and extra points.
Ruiz won the placekicking competition last year, beating out MSU's all-time leading scorer at the position Jace Christmann. The Arizona State transfer converted 10 of his 12 field goal attempts with a long of 43 yards. He also made all 24 of his extra point tries.
"Brandon Ruiz came in last year and he immediately made us better," Brock said.
During the offseason, Ruiz contemplated departing for the NFL but ultimately decided to return for his redshirt senior year.
Ruiz will likely handle MSU's kickoff duties as well and is again competing with junior Scott Goodman for that role. Ruiz received 37 touchbacks of his 43 kickoffs in 2020 while 37.3 percent of Goodman's 123 career kickoffs have been downed in the end zone.
"Brock wants touchbacks every time," Ruiz said. "During practice he wants the (coverage) guys to run down like it's not a touchback but he wants me to put it through the back of the end zone every time. My philosophy is just to hit it as hard as I can out the back with good hangtime, just a pretty ball."
The Bulldogs worked out several kickoff returners during their first fall scrimmage last Saturday. Griffin, Dillon Johnson, Jamire Calvin, Omni Wells, Emmanuel Forbes, Simeon Price and Teddy Knox all took turns returning kicks.
"That's what camp is for, and you've got to work that in because you never know through the season what is going to unfold at that position," Brock said. "Like anything, you'd better have a guy with the ball in his hands that has some fearlessness there to be as effective as you want."
Griffin was State's top kickoff returner last season, averaging 37.3 yards on seven returns as a true freshman. He was selected as the Most Valuable Player in the Armed Forces Bowl after accumulating 138 kickoff return yards (35 yard avg.) and one receiving touchdown in that contest.
Williams and Forbes are the team's top two options for punt return this year. Williams served at the Bulldogs' primary punt returner in 2020, returning eight punts for 48 yards.
"He's a safety blanket back there," Brock said. "He does a nice job, and you know what you're going to get from him. Nobody works harder at it, truthfully."
The coaching staff is cognizant of Forbes' responsibilities at cornerback but also understand just how dynamic he can be with the ball having returned three of his five interceptions for touchdowns en route to earning Freshman All-American status last year.
"You've got to be aware of that because he's obviously not the biggest guy," Brock said. "We have to be intelligent about how we use Forbes but he's also one of our best playmakers. Go back and think about anytime he got the ball in his hands on defense, it ended up in the end zone."
One spot the Bulldogs do have to replace this fall is long snapper following the graduation of Paul Blackwell.
"We've got three guys there that I feel pretty solid about," Brock said. "The young kid, Rex Robich, just got here but we liked him because of his frame. He played defense for his high school program and was a violent kid on the defensive side. To me, that translated well for what we like our snapper to do in coverage.
"But the other guys that are returning – Colby Cox and Hayes Hammond – they're both steady guys. They just work their tails off and have worked since the day they got here and don't complain. The key to that position is consistency, and I'm really excited about them."
But not at Mississippi State.
The Bulldogs stress the importance of the kicking game with daily drills at practice and return a majority of their specialists from a year ago. Kicker Brandon Ruiz is back along with punter Tucker Day, kick returner Lideatrick Griffin and punt returner Austin Williams.
"It's always good anytime you've got experience back," said special teams coordinator Matt Brock, who also doubles as outside linebackers coach. "I think the thing that we're trying to do is create competition always at all those positions."
Day has been MSU's starting punter for the past three seasons. The redshirt senior has punted 127 times in his career for 5,269 yards (41.5 avg.) with a long of 70 yards, which he has done twice. He posted a career-best 42.9-yard average in 2020.
And although Day is the incumbent starter, Aidan Martin and Marshall Nicholls are creating the competition that Brock is looking for as a coach.
"We've got two guys who have come in and pushed Tucker," Brock said. "Even though Tucker has the experience and is coming back as the starter on paper, he has to get better daily to make sure he's pushing himself and elevating his game because those guys are doing a nice job as well."
Day is also the holder for field goals and extra points.
Ruiz won the placekicking competition last year, beating out MSU's all-time leading scorer at the position Jace Christmann. The Arizona State transfer converted 10 of his 12 field goal attempts with a long of 43 yards. He also made all 24 of his extra point tries.
"Brandon Ruiz came in last year and he immediately made us better," Brock said.
During the offseason, Ruiz contemplated departing for the NFL but ultimately decided to return for his redshirt senior year.
Ruiz will likely handle MSU's kickoff duties as well and is again competing with junior Scott Goodman for that role. Ruiz received 37 touchbacks of his 43 kickoffs in 2020 while 37.3 percent of Goodman's 123 career kickoffs have been downed in the end zone.
"Brock wants touchbacks every time," Ruiz said. "During practice he wants the (coverage) guys to run down like it's not a touchback but he wants me to put it through the back of the end zone every time. My philosophy is just to hit it as hard as I can out the back with good hangtime, just a pretty ball."
The Bulldogs worked out several kickoff returners during their first fall scrimmage last Saturday. Griffin, Dillon Johnson, Jamire Calvin, Omni Wells, Emmanuel Forbes, Simeon Price and Teddy Knox all took turns returning kicks.
"That's what camp is for, and you've got to work that in because you never know through the season what is going to unfold at that position," Brock said. "Like anything, you'd better have a guy with the ball in his hands that has some fearlessness there to be as effective as you want."
Griffin was State's top kickoff returner last season, averaging 37.3 yards on seven returns as a true freshman. He was selected as the Most Valuable Player in the Armed Forces Bowl after accumulating 138 kickoff return yards (35 yard avg.) and one receiving touchdown in that contest.
Williams and Forbes are the team's top two options for punt return this year. Williams served at the Bulldogs' primary punt returner in 2020, returning eight punts for 48 yards.
"He's a safety blanket back there," Brock said. "He does a nice job, and you know what you're going to get from him. Nobody works harder at it, truthfully."
The coaching staff is cognizant of Forbes' responsibilities at cornerback but also understand just how dynamic he can be with the ball having returned three of his five interceptions for touchdowns en route to earning Freshman All-American status last year.
"You've got to be aware of that because he's obviously not the biggest guy," Brock said. "We have to be intelligent about how we use Forbes but he's also one of our best playmakers. Go back and think about anytime he got the ball in his hands on defense, it ended up in the end zone."
One spot the Bulldogs do have to replace this fall is long snapper following the graduation of Paul Blackwell.
"We've got three guys there that I feel pretty solid about," Brock said. "The young kid, Rex Robich, just got here but we liked him because of his frame. He played defense for his high school program and was a violent kid on the defensive side. To me, that translated well for what we like our snapper to do in coverage.
"But the other guys that are returning – Colby Cox and Hayes Hammond – they're both steady guys. They just work their tails off and have worked since the day they got here and don't complain. The key to that position is consistency, and I'm really excited about them."
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