STARKVILLE — A safety gave the Mississippi State football team its first shot to return a kickoff in 2017.
Late in the first quarter against Charleston Southern, Donald Gray took a kickoff for 52 yards to set up a six-play touchdown drive.
MSU hasn’t had a return like that one since Gray’s effort.
Since then, MSU (3-2, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) has returned five kickoffs and averaged 13.2 yards. MSU’s average of 20.14 yards on seven kickoff returns is 12th in the SEC. It will try to improve on that statistic at 11 a.m. Saturday (SEC Network) when it plays host to BYU at Davis Wade Stadium.
Being that low in the conference kickoff return standings is atypical for MSU, which has finished in the top half of the SEC in four of the last five seasons. MSU running backs coach and special teams coordinator Greg Knox has a simple explanation.
“The return game has been kind of non-existent because of the kickers we’ve been facing. We’re facing a lot of kickers that kick it out of the end zone,” Knox said. “In the situation where you can get the ball at the 25-yard line, those have been situations where you have to make smart choices.
“When they give us more chances to return kicks, I think we’ll be able to do a better evaluation of where we’re at on our kickoff returns.”
MSU’s seven kick returns this year are next to last in the conference to Alabama’s six. MSU’s last two opponents, Georgia and Auburn, are also in the top 12 nationally in touchback percentage at 72.5 and 86.05 percent, respectively. BYU might give MSU more opportunities. Its touchback percentage of 26.32 is 109th out of 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams, but if MSU coach Dan Mullen has his way, MSU won’t get many opportunities.
After all, most kickoffs follow scores.
“In my years of coaching, I think we only had one team that led the team in kick returning, 2003 at Utah, but we had a bunch of opportunities in one game and hit three of them,” Mullen said, referencing his stint as the Utes’ quarterbacks coach. “Don’t want to field a ton of kickoffs.”
Mullen also has his own 2009 MSU team, which ranked second in the conference in kick returning, to call upon when dissecting what makes an effective return unit.
“It’s really the guys blocking,” Mullen said. “You have to have a returner that’s trusting what’s going on. You have to be really disciplined within the blocking and what you’re doing.”
Knox feels like the team has the right returners in Gray and Keith Mixon: Gray’s only return was the 52-yarder against Charleston Southern while Mixon has returned four for a total of 62 yards. Whether those are the two back deep against BYU remains uncertain: wide receiver Gabe Myles started the season as a kick returner but missed the last three games with a foot injury. Mullen said earlier in the week Myles was back at practice.
Either way, Knox thinks the returners have adequate blocking to create a big play in the return game. Now it merely waits on the opportunity.
“There were a couple of times in the Auburn game where if the kick would’ve just been decent enough where we could bring it out, I think we would’ve had a great shot at returning it,” he said. “He’s putting it 8 yards deep, so there’s no chance.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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