STARKVILLE — When a defense as statistically dominant as Mississippi State’s is combined with an offense that operates as it did against Texas A&M, results like double-digit wins are bound to come.
Still, there is one aspect where No. 21 MSU (5-3, 2-3 Southeastern Conference, No. 18 College Football Playoff) needs more: punting.
MSU is 12th in the conference and 119th in the nation in punting average (37.48 yards per punt), one of only 12 teams in the nation averaging fewer than 37.5. MSU knows it needs to change beginning 6:30 p.m. Saturday (SEC Network) against Louisiana Tech.
“I think we need to improve our punting to win the hidden yards battle,” head coach Joe Moorhead said.
The average field position shows where MSU needs more help from its punting game.
MSU’s opponents are averaging beginning possessions in between the 32- and 33-yard lines, ranking 122nd in the nation. Opponents starting possessions with such advantageous position has impacted the offense; even when the defense responds with a quick stop, the ensuing punt is able to pin MSU deep, reflected by its average offensive field position ranking 123rd in the nation.
The field position has cost MSU points. In conference play, four opposing drives obtained by punts have started in MSU territory; two ended in field goals and one ended in a touchdown. The other ended in Kentucky kneeling out the final seconds of the game.
The struggles are not coming by a lack of experimentation.
Tucker Day and Kody Schexnayder battled through the preseason for the starting punter job and Day won it initially, but the Bulldogs have turned to Schexnayder four times. He punted once against Kentucky and Texas A&M, twice against LSU and was the primary punter against Florida, getting five punts to Day’s one.
For special teams coordinator Joey Jones, the decision-making process is simple. He evaluated them through the preseason by charting each punt and using the numbers to make his decision and he does the same now; he said the week of the Florida game, Schexnayder had better numbers in practice than Day, so he went with Schexnayder.
To this day, the starting punter is determined by that process.
“It’s a battle each week until one of them takes it and runs with it,” Jones said. “We’re covering kicks extremely well, we just got to get the ball a little further down the field to get our net (punting average) up.
“It’s distance, hang time, get off, all of those things.”
That being the case, what is left to be seen is those practice results being carried into a game.
“I don’t want to put the onus only on the punting game,” Moorhead said. “I think we’re doing a good job in protection, I think we’re doing a good job in coverage and I think both guys have shown flashes of where we need to be, they’re both very talented; at this point I think it’s more of a consistency thing.
“We’ve got to find a way to kick the ball over people’s heads and force them to fair catch it.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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