Michigan State football addressed more needs in the transfer portal on Tuesday with several commitments, and several more that haven’t been announced yet.
Pat Fitzgerald landed a backup quarterback, some more depth in the trenches, and some special teams stars that will undoubtedly take over as starters.
The Spartans have already landed their punter, Rhys Dakin, from Iowa. He followed his special teams coordinator, LeVar Woods, to East Lansing, and it looks like he’s going to have some big shoes to fill with Ryan Eckley declaring for the NFL draft.
Martin Connington transferred, leaving a hole at kicker, but Fitzgerald addressed that, too, on Tuesday. He landed Charlotte kicker Liam Boyd.
Boyd has a couple of years of eligibility left after starting for Charlotte last season, converting on 9-of-12 field goals, but he did miss two from under 30 yards. That can’t happen in East Lansing because, as we all know, a close miss could be the difference between making a bowl game and missing one — that Ben Patton miss against Indiana in 2022 from about 20 yards out still haunts me.
The Charlotte transfer also apparently has a massive leg.
Liam Boyd can apparently hit from 70
Landing a kicker with a rocket for a leg is important in today’s college football because there are so many instances of late-game situations where they’re needed to hit 50-plus yarders regularly.
Too many times we’ve seen the 2-minute drill end with a missed kick from long distance, ending the game with a heartbreaking loss.
Boyd, however, looks like he’s going to be a weapon in those situations.
According to his Twitter account from three years ago, he has the leg to hit from 70. He posted a video of himself drilling a 70-yarder at Clemson, where he began his career — he media it look rather routine.
70 💣 @DanOrnerKicking pic.twitter.com/QJUsxvPIGV
— Liam Boyd (@liamboyd37) April 20, 2023
According to his Clemson profile, Boyd was a soccer player who “gave football a try” after COVID-19, and is now kicking the ball at the FBS level.
What a whirlwind of a college career it’s been for him.
After Clemson where he didn’t attempt a single kick, he transferred to North Carolina where he went 1-for-1 on field goals and 7-for-7 on extra points over two seasons. Then he went to Charlotte where he was 9-for-12 on field goals and 15-of-15 on extra points. He’ll now start at Michigan State.
The last time Michigan State landed a lightly-used former North Carolina kicker, it worked out pretty well and Jonathan Kim landed in the NFL.
Hopefully this big-legged kicker from Asheville, N.C., can follow Kim’s footsteps.