BATON ROUGE, La. — Westin Graves showed his versatility Saturday night.
In a 23-20 loss to No. 20 LSU, the Mississippi State football kicker was used as a field goal kicker and on kickoffs.
He made field goals from 41 yards and 37 yards in the second and third quarters, respectively, to put the Bulldogs (1-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) on the scoreboard.
He had four kickoffs for 253 yards, an average of 63.2 yards. He even attempted an onside kick in the fourth quarter and it was recovered by linebacker Dezmond Harris to keep MSU’s hopes alive.
“I didn’t kick them through the end zone like Logan (Cooke) does, but the other 10 guys made the tackles and made the plays,” Graves said.
Graves missed two filed goals in a season-opening loss to South Alabama, including a 28-yard possible game-tying kick. He has made all four he has attempted since then.
Junior Cooke usually does kickoffs, but he stuck to punting. With a brace on his right leg he had seven punts for 271 yards (38.7 average). His longest was 55 yards. He hit five inside the 20 yard line, including one at the LSU 1 yard line in the second half.
“I think special teams as a whole, as a unit, came out and performed,” Graves said. “I wish we could have done a little more. Maybe I could have helped a little more.”
LSU punter Josh Growden had a long of 65 yards and averaged 49.2 yards on five punts.
Ross moving up
Every time senior wide receiver Fred Ross has a catch, his name climbs the MSU record book.
After having six catches, extending his streak to 25-straight games with a catch, for 89 yards and one touchdown, his name climbed in a couple of records.
He is now in fourth place in MSU history with 145 receptions. His fourth quarter touchdown moved him into a tie for eight place in MSU history (David Smith, 1968-70) with 12 for his career.
He now has 1,773 career yards, surpassing Terrell Grindle (1999-2002) for eighth place in MSU history.
But the Tyler, Texas, native isn’t worried about records. He’s worried about wins and losses.
“I felt like there were some plays that I left out there on the field,” Ross said. “Moving forward I’ve got to make those plays and we’ll be fine.”
Three freshmen dress
On the first road trip, MSU dressed three freshmen scholarship players, including former Noxubee County High School standout Jeffery Simmons.
Along with Simmons, defensive lineman Marquiss Spencer and wide receiver Jamal Couch also dressed.
Simmons, who served a one-game suspension for striking a woman in March, got the most playing time and was the most active. He had three tackles.
Spencer had one tackle, while Couch did not record a catch and played sparingly in the second half.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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