Mississippi State re-entered both major football polls on Sunday at No. 21 after the Bulldogs’ 28-13 victory over then 16th-ranked Texas A&M.
MSU and coach Joe Moorhead will now try to build off of that momentum and become bowl eligible for the ninth straight season. The Bulldogs (5-3, 2-3 SEC) will shoot for their sixth win, hosting Louisiana Tech for homecoming on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on the SEC Network.
MSU quarterback Nick Fitzgerald had a huge bounce-back game against A&M.
After his poor performance at LSU a week ago, Fitzgerald just tried to block out the noise. He then went out on Saturday night and silenced his critics.
Fitzgerald put up one of the best games of his career on Saturday.
to lead Mississippi State past No. 16 Texas A&M 28-13. He completed 14 of his 22 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 88 yards and a pair of scores.
“For all the B.S. that kid has had to endure for parts of this season and everything he’s done to lay his heart and soul on the line and body on the line for this university and have to listen to that (negative) stuff, for him to come out and play this type of football…I’m happy for every single person in our program, but I’m most happy for that kid,” MSU head coach Joe Moorhead said of Fitzgerald.
This was the Nick Fitzgerald that Moorhead envisioned guiding the Bulldogs when Moorhead took over the program prior to this season. However Fitzgerald entered Saturday embattled to say the least.
Since Southeastern Conference play began, Fitzgerald had struggled mightily, particularly through the air. He completed only 28 of his 67 passes over the last three weeks. In SEC games, Fitzgerald had thrown six interceptions without a touchdown pass.
“In this day and age where everything is right at your fingertips on social media and we’re all so connected, it’s hard to not see a lot of the hate,” Fitzgerald said.
“At the same time, I got plenty of messages from fans saying, ‘Hey, we support you. We love you. We’ve got your back. Keep doing you.’ I have a great set of family and friends and teammates who believe in me, so (the negativity) didn’t really matter. Most of it just made me laugh. It felt good to go out there and have a good game.”
We meet again
Mississippi State meets Louisiana Tech for the second straight year. MSU won 57-21 in Ruston last season behind 459 yards of offense. Fitzgerald and Aeris Williams each rushed for over 100 yards with Fitzgerald finishing with five touchdowns.
Louisiana Tech (6-2) has won three straight games, including a 21-13 win at Florida Atlantic over the weekend.
