Photo by: Austin Perryman/MSU Athletics
MSU Has A Game-Changer In Griffin
August 18, 2022 | Football
STARKVILLE – In baseball, the ultimate sign of respect to a home run slugger is to intentionally walk him and award a free pass to first base.
In some respects, the same sort of analogy can be used for a dangerous kickoff returner in football. If a team believes it's in their best interest to give their opponent the ball at the 25-yard line, they can simply kick the ball out of the end zone or sky kick it high into the air to force a fair catch and avoid a potential big play in the return game.
That is essentially what happened to Mississippi State's Lideatrick Griffin last season. Through the first two games of 2021, Griffin ranked second nationally in kickoff return yardage averaging 48.8 yards on his five returns.
In the remaining eight games in which Griffin played, however, he only had nine more return opportunities as teams started kicking away from him.
"I didn't like that," Griffin said. "Coach (Matt) Brock even tried to put me in the middle (of the field) so I could chase it down and get all of them but that still wouldn't work."
Of the 46 kickoffs in Griffin's final eight contests, 23 went for touchbacks, four were fair caught, one was an onside kick and nine were kicked to players other than him.
"(Showing me respect) feels good but at the same time it bugs me because I want to do something with it," Griffin said.
With or without the ball, the good news for State fans is Griffin equates to positive field position. In the 10 games in which he was the primary kickoff returner, the Bulldogs' offense started drives with an average field position at the 27.7 yard line and averaged beginning at the 35.1 yard line when he was the one actually returning the kickoff.
Griffin certainly proved he could do plenty with the football in his hands early on last fall. Coming off an MVP performance in the 2020 Armed Forces Bowl as a freshman, the 5-foot-10, 180-pounder from Philadelphia helped spark what was then the largest comeback in school history in the season opener.
Trailing Louisiana Tech 34-14 with just over 12 minutes remaining in the game, Griffin ripped off a 70-yard kickoff return that set the offense up at the 31-yard line and sent the MSU sideline and the rest of Davis Wade Stadium into a frenzy.
The Bulldogs capitalized on the prime field position with a touchdown three plays later and turned that momentum into a 35-34 victory.
The following week against NC State, Griffin made his impact right from the start with an electrifying 100-yard return of the opening kickoff. His early touchdown set the tone as the Bulldogs rolled to a 24-10 victory.
"All you have to do is turn on the film and see a sideline shot of those games and watch how he just ignited everybody," said special teams coordinator Eric Mele. "He ignited the whole stadium too for that matter. That's what you need in some of these games where it's a back-and-forth slugfest and waiting for someone to give us that juice. He brings that."
Despite teams being determined to keep the ball out of Griffin's hands for much of 2021, he finished the season averaging 32.8 yards per kickoff return which tied Eric Moulds' mark in 1994 for the highest single-season average in school history.
Griffin has five career kickoff returns of over 40 yards to his credit and is one of only five Mississippi State players to ever return a kickoff 100 yards.
"It takes all 11 guys on kick return to score a touchdown," Mele said. "It's one of those things where he has to trust those guys in front of him to make blocks and he's got to hit it and be willing to run through piles of people without breaking stride. He's fearless and has got that gear. When he sees something, he's going to go after it. He's a special player back there.
"He goes where he's coached to go and makes the read and after that it's his show. When he gets to that second and third level, they either can't catch him or he'll make somebody miss. Those are just fantastic qualities to have."
Mele took over the reins of special teams in the spring and has been working on new ways to ensure Griffin gets chances to continue being a game-changer provided teams give them the opportunity to execute that plan.
"If they're going to keep it in the field of play, then obviously we can make sure that he's the one that fields the ball," Mele said. "If they're not going to kick it out of the end zone or make us fair catch the ball after it hangs in the air forever, we're going to play football."
In some respects, the same sort of analogy can be used for a dangerous kickoff returner in football. If a team believes it's in their best interest to give their opponent the ball at the 25-yard line, they can simply kick the ball out of the end zone or sky kick it high into the air to force a fair catch and avoid a potential big play in the return game.
That is essentially what happened to Mississippi State's Lideatrick Griffin last season. Through the first two games of 2021, Griffin ranked second nationally in kickoff return yardage averaging 48.8 yards on his five returns.
In the remaining eight games in which Griffin played, however, he only had nine more return opportunities as teams started kicking away from him.
"I didn't like that," Griffin said. "Coach (Matt) Brock even tried to put me in the middle (of the field) so I could chase it down and get all of them but that still wouldn't work."
Of the 46 kickoffs in Griffin's final eight contests, 23 went for touchbacks, four were fair caught, one was an onside kick and nine were kicked to players other than him.
"(Showing me respect) feels good but at the same time it bugs me because I want to do something with it," Griffin said.
With or without the ball, the good news for State fans is Griffin equates to positive field position. In the 10 games in which he was the primary kickoff returner, the Bulldogs' offense started drives with an average field position at the 27.7 yard line and averaged beginning at the 35.1 yard line when he was the one actually returning the kickoff.
Griffin certainly proved he could do plenty with the football in his hands early on last fall. Coming off an MVP performance in the 2020 Armed Forces Bowl as a freshman, the 5-foot-10, 180-pounder from Philadelphia helped spark what was then the largest comeback in school history in the season opener.
Trailing Louisiana Tech 34-14 with just over 12 minutes remaining in the game, Griffin ripped off a 70-yard kickoff return that set the offense up at the 31-yard line and sent the MSU sideline and the rest of Davis Wade Stadium into a frenzy.
The Bulldogs capitalized on the prime field position with a touchdown three plays later and turned that momentum into a 35-34 victory.
The following week against NC State, Griffin made his impact right from the start with an electrifying 100-yard return of the opening kickoff. His early touchdown set the tone as the Bulldogs rolled to a 24-10 victory.
"All you have to do is turn on the film and see a sideline shot of those games and watch how he just ignited everybody," said special teams coordinator Eric Mele. "He ignited the whole stadium too for that matter. That's what you need in some of these games where it's a back-and-forth slugfest and waiting for someone to give us that juice. He brings that."
Despite teams being determined to keep the ball out of Griffin's hands for much of 2021, he finished the season averaging 32.8 yards per kickoff return which tied Eric Moulds' mark in 1994 for the highest single-season average in school history.
Griffin has five career kickoff returns of over 40 yards to his credit and is one of only five Mississippi State players to ever return a kickoff 100 yards.
"It takes all 11 guys on kick return to score a touchdown," Mele said. "It's one of those things where he has to trust those guys in front of him to make blocks and he's got to hit it and be willing to run through piles of people without breaking stride. He's fearless and has got that gear. When he sees something, he's going to go after it. He's a special player back there.
"He goes where he's coached to go and makes the read and after that it's his show. When he gets to that second and third level, they either can't catch him or he'll make somebody miss. Those are just fantastic qualities to have."
Mele took over the reins of special teams in the spring and has been working on new ways to ensure Griffin gets chances to continue being a game-changer provided teams give them the opportunity to execute that plan.
"If they're going to keep it in the field of play, then obviously we can make sure that he's the one that fields the ball," Mele said. "If they're not going to kick it out of the end zone or make us fair catch the ball after it hangs in the air forever, we're going to play football."
![Jacksonville Jaguars punter Logan Cooke (9) punts during the second quarter of an NFL football matchup at EverBank Stadium, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Jacksonville, Fla. The Jaguars defeated the Jets 48-20. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]](https://images.sidearmdev.com/resize?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net%2Fsidearm.nextgen.sites%2Fmsstate.sidearmsports.com%2Fimages%2F2026%2F1%2F1%2FUSATSI_27828199.jpg&height=340&type=webp)
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