Like most of the 50,000 people around him Thursday night, Eric Richards left Scott Field a little queasy.

It had nothing to do with Mississippi State’s performance in a 45-0 loss to No. 2 LSU, nor the thought of enduring another long, losing season. It had everything to do with the fact he was sitting in the stands instead of on the sideline, watching the Bulldogs play instead of being watched.

Richards, a freshman kicker from Warren Central, was in line to be State’s go-to guy for kickoffs and long field goals this season. He was even battling for the punter’s job. Then came Aug. 19, when he had a punt blocked in practice and all of those plans were dashed.

Richards broke two bones in his right foot when it smashed into his teammate, and saw his season come to an end.

“It really hurt. Coach (Sylvester) Croom said he expected me to kick off, and then this happened in the scrimmage,” Richards said. “I’m looking for the bright spot. If I have five years of college I’ll come out with a degree, and my GPA should be good this year.”

In four years at Warren Central, a career that included two all-state selections and a spot in the Mississippi-Alabama All-Star game, Richards said he never had a punt blocked. Not in a game, not in practice, not ever.

The first one was a doozy.

One of his Mississippi State teammates broke free up the middle during a scrimmage two weeks ago and got as much of Richards’ foot as he did the ball. The other guy ended up with bruised ribs. Richards got the worst of it.

One of the bones in his foot poked through the skin, a compound fracture.

“I kicked him in the knee or chest and my foot broke in half,” Richards said. “There was so much blood coming out of the hole in my foot that you couldn’t see the bone. I didn’t really want to see the bone.”

Richards spent most of that night in the emergency room, then had surgery to put two pins in his foot and a cast on his leg. The pins are scheduled to come out this week, but he’ll be in a cast for another five weeks. He won’t be able to walk for six, and can’t return to the football field for eight.

By then, Mississippi State will only have a couple of games left. Even though Richards will be able to practice before the end of the season, Croom said he’ll probably redshirt him.

“He’ll be back and better than ever because he has a great attitude about it. The first thing he said was, ‘we’ll deal with it and move on,’” Croom said. “It’s a loss to us, no question, because on kickoffs and long field goals he was the guy that can hit from 50 yards plus.”

Richards was trying to stay positive. He said he’s taken a few weeks off from kicking before, and believes he’ll be fine once he rehabs his leg and gets some strength back. Dropping back to punt when he gets back on the field may be a mental hurdle, but the hardest thing right now is learning to use crutches.

“You really start to appreciate the ability to walk. Crutching around to all your classes isn’t fun,” he said. “I’ve never broken a bone where I had to have a cast. It’s always been little bones where I could work around it.”