Michigan State adds kicker Ben Patton from Auburn

Michigan State has made a late roster move in the offseason, adding a new weapon to their special teams unit. Per a school spokesperson, kicker Ben Patton will be joining the program, previously being at Auburn. Patton entered the transfer portal less than a week ago.

A native of Rochester, Mich, Patton will be moving back to his home state to continue his college football career. Patton will be entering his junior season but was a walk-on under both head coach Gus Malzhan and Bryan Harsin.

Patton served as Auburn’s backup kicker and holder last season until Anders Carlson went down with an injury against Mississippi State. He became the primary placekicker from that point on, making five of his six field goal attempts. All six extra points were successful for Patton.

With Carlson recovering well from his ACL tear and coming back for another season at Auburn, Patton decided it was time for a new challenge. He will be joining a Michigan State program that struggled in the kicking games at times. Matt Coghlin was the main guy, making every PAT attempt. However, he only hit field goals at a 63.2% clip, seeing 12 out of 19 going through the uprights.

Patton will have around two weeks of practice with the Spartans before getting the season underway. Michigan State will begin the year at home against Western Michigan. Whether or not the new transfer kicker can be ready will be answered by Sept. 3.

Mel Tucker on how Michigan State avoids “rat traps”

Mel Tucker worked for a year under Nick Saban at Alabama, meaning he probably heard a lot about “rat poison” in Tuscaloosa. But the Michigan State head coach is apparently taking a different spin on that analogy, telling his team to avoid “rat traps.”

During an interview with Big Ten Network’s Dave Revsine, Tucker shared what he wants to see from his group ahead of last Saturday’s scrimmage. He said he mainly wants to see the practice techniques translate into a game-like situation and see if his players can avoid getting caught in a trap.

“We want to see guys take it from the practice field into the scrimmage,” Tucker said. “We don’t want them to go [into a] rat trap. Whatever we coached throughout the week, just put it out there on Saturday. If the guys can do it in the scrimmage, they can do it in a game.”