STARKVILLE – After the loss to LSU, Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said the 52-yard field goal that Devon Bell missed was not in Westin Graves’ range.
Graves, a sophomore, entered the LSU game having made both field goals he attempted against Southern Mississippi in a season-opening victory. He connected from both 38 and 37 yards, his first career made field goals.
He made two against the Tigers (43 and 24 yards), but Mullen went with the senior Bell who had not attempted a field goal since his sophomore year. Graves has gained some confidence making all five field goals he has attempted this season.
“He’s kicking the ball well and playing with a lot of consistency right now,” Mullen said. “We’ve even moved him back in practice a little bit. I think he’s done a good job with that.”
The Bulldogs were moving down the field against LSU and MSU had the ball in Graves’ range, but there was a delay of game penalty that pushed the ball back five yards.
Mullen said he felt comfortable with sending in Graves before the penalty, but after the penalty he went with Bell. Graves said he was preparing to kick the field goal, but when the penalty flag was thrown, he knew that took him out of the conversation.
Graves said his longest field goal came when he was at Jackson Prep. He made a 48-yard field goal “once or twice” during his time with Patriots.
Although the distances have been moved back for Graves, Mullen is not going to put him in a position he doesn’t trust his young kicker in. He nailed a 44-yard kick against Auburn in the third quarter when the Bulldogs needed points to put some distance between themselves and the Tigers.
“I’m comfortable with really anything that he feels comfortable in,” Graves said. “If he’s going to put me out there, then he thinks I can do it and that gives me confidence. Him having confidence in me, helps give me confidence that I can do it.”
Mullen says he doesn’t want to kill Graves’ confidence and get him out of his routine by making him kick longer field goals. That includes him changing his technique.
Graves said during pregame warmups, he goes as far back as 52 or 53 yards, but that’s as far as he will attempt.
“I don’t like to go much farther than that because I just know that’s not realistic,” Graves said. “I don’t think I would ever be put in a situation to ever hit past 50.
“If he asks me do it and I’ve been hitting the ball well and the wind’s at my back and I feel like I can, I’m going to say yes.”
During Graves’ senior year in high school, he made 11 of 17 field goals and made 50 of 54 points after touchdowns. The Flowood native has made all 13 PATs he has attempted this season.
During training camp, Graves competed with Bell and redshirt freshman Bryce Brown for the starting job. He didn’t know he was going to be the guy until the Friday before the Southern Miss game.
He missed the only field goal he attempted last season, so after making the first one against the Golden Eagles, the nerves left him. He said he still feels anxious, but that’s not a bad thing.
“It doesn’t go away, but you feel better after that first kick. You kind of try to get into a groove,” Graves said.
Another aspect of being a field goal kicker is what hash mark the ball is located on. Graves said he is most comfortable when the ball is on the left hash, but he doesn’t try to get complacent.
“I try to really work on my hashes for any kind of distances,” Graves said. “I don’t want to feel more comfortable on one side, so then I go out there and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ I try to be comfortable everywhere so I don’t think about it.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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