STARKVILLE – As hard as he tries, Eric Richards will never forget his first practice at Mississippi State.

Last August, Richards took the snap from center, started his kicking motion and then felt a surge of pain as a teammate blocked his punt and broke his foot. Instead of competing for the starting job as State’s kicker and punter, he spent most of the season with his leg in a cast and watched from the stands.

That’s all behind him now. With his leg healed, the former Warren Central star is once again hoping to find a place on the Bulldogs’ special teams unit as the 2008 season approaches.

“They hope for me to come in on kickoffs. That’s the same thing they said last year,” Richards said with a sarcastic chuckle. “After this year I’m going to have to do it all. Kicking off will ease me into it so I’ll have a little more confidence.”

Confidence was no problem for Richards in his days at Warren Central. He earned All-State honors his senior season when he made 8 of 12 field goals, 20 of 22 extra points, and averaged 45.4 yards per punt. He was rated among the top kickers in the country in the recruiting class of 2007, and signed with MSU.

Richards was on track to receive serious playing time as a true freshman until his foot injury. He was redshirted and missed the entire 2007 season. It shook his confidence, but only until he got back into the flow of the game during spring practice.

“In spring I was a little bit nervous because I was in the stadium for the first time, playing SEC football,” Richards said of his first game action, at MSU’s spring game in May. “After that, it was fine. It was like any other time playing football.”

Richards was listed as the backup at both punter and kicker on Mississippi State’s preseason depth chart. A pair of seniors, punter Blake McAdams and kicker Adam Carlson, are ahead of him.