Kicking competition unites Spartans, lifts Michigan State over Rutgers
Like many things this season, Michigan State's field goal kicking in 2022 has been erratic at best. The Spartans have been put in tough spots down in their opponents' territory when facing fourth downs.
Leading up to this weekend's game against Rutgers, Michigan State's two field goal kickers — Auburn transfer Ben Patton and true freshman Jack Stone — were a combined 2-for-6 on field goal attempts.
Stone's 43-yarder in Week 2 against Arkon was the longest kick the Spartans had made all season, and each kicker had missed one PAT attempt this season as well. In addition to that, Michigan State has had a field goal blocked this season, and has had a couple poor snaps that didn't allow the Spartans to even get a kick off.
Due to all of that, Mel Tucker decided it was time for MSU to have an open competition for the starting kicker this week in practice, and the entire Michigan State team would play witness to that competition.
“The week has been exciting with that, actually," senior wide receiver Jayden Reed said, when asked about the field goal kicking.
"At the end of every practice, we would bring everybody up, surrounding around and distracting the kickers. We haven’t been doing that all season, we just started that this week. We just started putting a distraction on the kickers and they lived up to is. So, I’m pretty sure it helped those guys out.”
Patton came out as the victor of the competition, and he immediately rewarded the coaches on that decision when he knocked through two field goals on Saturday against Rutgers. Those six points ended up being crucial, in a 27-21 victory for Michigan State.
“The whole team has been ‘all eyes on our kicker’ for the last seven days and Ben hasn’t missed one, so, maybe that’s what it takes," quarterback Payton Thorne said with a smile after the game. "It’s huge. We won by six points and we had two field goals. It was great to see, so credit to him for sticking through it the whole year.”
Michigan State led for most of the afternoon against the Scarlet Knights and, at the time of the kicks, it never felt like the game was on the line when Patton knocked through a 34-yarder and 48-yarder on the Spartans' final two drives.
However, the kicks ended up being vitally important to the outcome of the game, and it was a good way for Michigan State to finish a week of preparation after rallying around the specialist each day after practice.
"Normally, at the end of practice when we kick field goals, we have the offense over there doing ball security and things like that," head coach Mel Tucker said. "But, this week we had everyone run up and we just kind of got after it – a lot of noise, put a lot of pressure on those guys."
In addition to helping create a game-like atmosphere for the kickers, it seems the end of practice competition helped unite the Spartans around their kicking game. Patton's 48-yarder with 3:22 left in the game just barely made its way over the crossbar, but Michigan State sideline erupted when it did.
“It’s important. All of our guys know how important the kicking game is," Tucker said. "On the sideline, you could hear the guys really excited and celebrating when we made those field goals, because we’ve had a little bit of a tough time with that all year, and those field goals were big for us.
“We had confidence we could make them. Good snap, good hold, good kick, good protection, good operation.”
Special teams is often the most overlooked of the three phases of a football game, but Saturday's win over Rutgers showed once again how important the guys who kick the football are to a team's success.
Michigan State punter Bryce Baringer, arguably the nation's best punter, has proven his value all season long. Against the Scarlet Knights, it was Patton's turn to leave his mark on a game.
“I’m sure he’s been having a tough time with different people saying whatever to him, but credit to him for showing up today and really kicking the ball well in not-ideal kicking conditions," Thorne said of Patton.
Overcoming adversity has been a theme for the Spartans all season. Not many expected MSU to struggle through a four-game losing streak, nor lose several players due to injury and suspension. But the Spartans have battled through those tough circumstances to win three of their past four games and position themselves for a bowl berth.
Patton's two field goal makes on two attempts is something of a microcosm of Michigan State's 2022 season. We're quickly approaching the end of the year, and the Spartans are one victory away from finishing over the crossbar and earning that extra game that every team covets.
