What do second-graders and Mongol warriors have in common?

According to Mississippi State coach Mike Leach, neither group should intimidate a Southeastern Conference kicker into missing a field goal during a college football game.

“The thing is that there is a ball, and you kick it,” Leach said Monday. “It really doesn’t matter if a bunch of 7-year-olds are watching or 5 million Mongol warriors on horses getting ready to shoot their bows and arrows at you. You approach the ball, and you kick it. It’s as simple as that.”

But for the Bulldogs in Saturday’s 31-28 loss at Arkansas, it wasn’t that easy. MSU went 0 for 3 on field goals amid a crowd of 68,818 Razorbacks fans, an ensemble somewhere between a few grade-school students and a horde of medieval fighters that would nearly equal the population of Ireland.

Fifth-year senior Brandon Ruiz missed from a mere 23 yards away and was also off target from 46 yards. Redshirt freshman Nolan McCord fared no better, shanking his tying 40-yard attempt at the final buzzer wide left.

The misses prompted Leach to proclaim after Saturday’s game there would be “open tryouts” at kicker, with anyone who could be cleared by the NCAA able to try their hand — or, rather, their leg.

And the second-year Bulldogs coach made clear Monday he was serious, saying he’d already had plenty of people reach out to the team. For Leach, it’s the more, the merrier.

“We want to have a pile of kickers that are available that we cultivate and develop,” Leach said.

Leach said he often had walk-on kickers in past stops at Texas Tech and Washington State and has no qualms about letting them take snaps ahead of kickers on scholarship.

“I just want to have a pile of kickers, and I want to develop them over time so that as they improve and elevate, they have a chance,” Leach said. “I’ve also had a situation where the walk-on kicker played ahead of the scholarship kicker, which I’ll do that without any hesitation because whoever plays the best and helps us be successful is the guy we want out there.”

Ruiz, McCord and redshirt freshman Aidan Martin are the three kickers listed on the Bulldogs’ roster. Leach declined to name a starter Monday.

“We are going to check it out this week,” he said.

Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.