Mike Leach says Mississippi State will hold open tryouts at kicker

Mississippi State’s special teams unit significantly struggled in Saturday’s 31-28 loss to Arkansas, as kickers Brandon Ruiz and Nolan McCord combined to go 0-for-3 on field goal attempts. Following that performance, Bulldogs’ head coach Mike Leach said in his postgame interview that he will hold open tryouts at the position.

“Well, I think there’s an open tryout,” Leach said, “and you can announce this: There’s an open tryout on our campus for kickers. Anybody that wants to walk-on and kick at Mississippi State, we’ll hold a tryout anytime you can get over there to our building and providing you’re cleared by the NCAA.”

Ruiz went 0-for-2 on kicks from 23 and 46 yards and McCord missed an attempt from 40 yards out – a crucial kick with no time left on the clock that would’ve sent the game into overtime tied at 31-31. While McCord’s kick would’ve tied it, Mississippi State wouldn’t have even needed it if Ruiz had made his attempts.

As a team this season the Bulldogs are now 9-for-17 on field goal attempts, as Ruiz has gone 5-for-9 and McCord has made 4 of 8.

Ranked No. 17 in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season, Mississippi State’s loss to Arkansas dropped it to 5-4 overall and 3-3 in SEC play. The Bulldogs have three remaining regular season games left against Auburn (Nov. 13), Tennessee State (Nov. 20) and Ole Miss (Nov. 25).

Report: Mike Leach discussed as candidate for Big 12 job

Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach has been mentioned in conversations about Texas Tech’s open position, according to Don Williams of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Leach, known for his air raid offense, coached at Texas Tech from 2000-2009.

Texas Tech fired former head coach Matt Wells last month after accumulating a 13-17 record over three seasons. Williams’ source, who has knowledge of the coaching search, maintains that Leach is “discussed seriously” by university leaders. Leach’s history with the program predates athletic director Kirby Hocutt and President Lawrence Schovanec, but they maintain interest.

Leach went 84-43 in 10 seasons at Texas Tech.