The pain and agony that came with watching a football hit the left side of the uprights in Mississippi State's season opener last season was gut wrenching to the point of physical illness. It was also the by-product of undervaluing the positional consequence of placekicker. Especially important, with relation to determining the outcome of winning a football game. Westin Graves, it' not your fault.
There is little debate when it comes to Dan Mullen’s reputation as the greatest quarterbacks coach in modern college football. The level of talent Dan has recently been able to procure at the QB position is more an aftermath of his nationally recognized genius than it is MSU's historical heirloom for hauling in big name quarterbacks. Here is the concern. This fruition at a position that State fans have yearned for years to acquire, is potentially camouflaging what is a very serious issue on the offensive side of the football. There is a vital necessity for a college ready field goal kicker in Starkville, MS. Mullen has secured four star talent at signal caller that goes beyond 2020, with names such as Keyton Thompson and Jalen Mayden, firmly on the way. While it tickles the bulldog faithful to death knowing the security of this coveted position’s long term stability, at least for the next four years, it makes it extremely easy to overlook the less “sexy” area of scoring.
Wayne Madkin wasn’t Dak Prescott. Matt Wyatt was certainly not Nick Fitzgerald. But they both managed to do something that Dan Mullen has not, they won a western division championship. They won it courtesy of Brian Hazelwood hitting five field goals against the ninth ranked Arkansas razorbacks, including the game winner with 7 seconds left on the clock sending Davis Wade Stadium into a frenzy of goal post tearing post game madness. It was Nuts, Houston Nutt was the coach. The very next year Scott Westerfield lifted game winning kicks of forty plus yards against both Kentucky and Ole Miss as time ran out, handing the bulldogs their best record in program history at 10-2. Don’t tell me field goal kickers don’t matter.
After losing games to South Alabama and at Kentucky last year, each resulting from clock expiring field goals, the severity of the situation can not be stressed enough. There must be a serious return to the reverence and respect that was once held regarding this special teams position. 55-20, is enough to overlook any area of concern, especially one as unpopular as the kicking of a football, and that is the disturbance.
This brings me to my original thought. I love Dan till death, but Mullen needs to recruit a damn kicker. Regardless of how pretty it looks to watch Nick Fitzgerald dashing untouched through the grasses of Oxford, MS.
There is little debate when it comes to Dan Mullen’s reputation as the greatest quarterbacks coach in modern college football. The level of talent Dan has recently been able to procure at the QB position is more an aftermath of his nationally recognized genius than it is MSU's historical heirloom for hauling in big name quarterbacks. Here is the concern. This fruition at a position that State fans have yearned for years to acquire, is potentially camouflaging what is a very serious issue on the offensive side of the football. There is a vital necessity for a college ready field goal kicker in Starkville, MS. Mullen has secured four star talent at signal caller that goes beyond 2020, with names such as Keyton Thompson and Jalen Mayden, firmly on the way. While it tickles the bulldog faithful to death knowing the security of this coveted position’s long term stability, at least for the next four years, it makes it extremely easy to overlook the less “sexy” area of scoring.
Wayne Madkin wasn’t Dak Prescott. Matt Wyatt was certainly not Nick Fitzgerald. But they both managed to do something that Dan Mullen has not, they won a western division championship. They won it courtesy of Brian Hazelwood hitting five field goals against the ninth ranked Arkansas razorbacks, including the game winner with 7 seconds left on the clock sending Davis Wade Stadium into a frenzy of goal post tearing post game madness. It was Nuts, Houston Nutt was the coach. The very next year Scott Westerfield lifted game winning kicks of forty plus yards against both Kentucky and Ole Miss as time ran out, handing the bulldogs their best record in program history at 10-2. Don’t tell me field goal kickers don’t matter.
After losing games to South Alabama and at Kentucky last year, each resulting from clock expiring field goals, the severity of the situation can not be stressed enough. There must be a serious return to the reverence and respect that was once held regarding this special teams position. 55-20, is enough to overlook any area of concern, especially one as unpopular as the kicking of a football, and that is the disturbance.
This brings me to my original thought. I love Dan till death, but Mullen needs to recruit a damn kicker. Regardless of how pretty it looks to watch Nick Fitzgerald dashing untouched through the grasses of Oxford, MS.
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