OXFORD — Nick Fitzgerald knew after the first possession.
The Mississippi State football team’s offense was forced to punt after picking up a first down on a 16-yard Aeris Williams run. Fitzgerald, the MSU quarterback, then threw three incomplete passes, but he knew MSU had a chance to beat Ole Miss if it kept the ball on the ground.
MSU followed that plan and rushed for 457 yards, the third most in school history and the most since going for 466 against Tulane in 1994, en route to a 55-20 win Saturday in the Battle for the Golden Egg at Vaught-Hemingway
Stadium.
“The line was blocking their butts off, Aeris (Williams) and the rest of the running backs were running extremely hard, extremely hard and they couldn’t tackle them,” Fitzgerald said. “It really all goes to our offensive line. They really, really showed out.”
MSU coach Dan Mullen agreed, but he said the Rebels presented challenges with a lot of movement, blitzes, and twists.
On MSU’s second offensive possession, MSU took a 6-3 lead on 16-yard run by Williams. The Bulldogs (5-7, 3-5 Southeastern Conference) had 32 yards rushing on the drive. By halftime, MSU led 27-20 and had 250 yards rushing.
“I think the fact that we were able to establish the run early maybe got them out of rhythm of what they wanted to do defensively,” Mullen said. “We had to keep mixing up the different looks and different formations to run the ball and to keep them on their toes.”
Fitzgerald set the MSU single-game record with 258 yards rushing on 14 carries and two touchdowns. Anthony Dixon had 252 yards in a win in 2009 at Kentucky. His 1,243 yards this season are the third most by a SEC quarterback, and the most by a MSU quarterback. Dak Prescott had 986 yards as a junior in 2014.
Both of Fitzgerald’s touchdowns came in the second half. He scored a 61-yard run to increase MSU’s lead to 41-20 with 48 seconds remaining in the third quarter. He added a 30-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
“If he gets the ball in the open field, he has the potential to hit the home run,” Mullen said. “He’s fast. I think everybody saw that (Saturday).”
Mullen said he called a couple of quarterback runs, but he said Fitzgerald kept it on the read-option on the other runs.
Fitzgerald was 8 of 17 for 109 yards and three touchdowns. He hit Fred Ross for a 38-yard touchdown in the third quarter to give MSU a 34-20 lead.
Ross was surprised to see Fitzgerald’s speed on his touchdowns.
“I knew he was fast, but he hit another gear (Saturday),” Ross said. “I don’t know if it was the Egg Bowl trophy he was running toward, but he played lights out.”
Williams, a former standout at West Point High School, had a career-high 191 yards on 25 carries and a career-high two touchdowns. His second touchdown, a 13-yard score, gave MSU a 20-10 lead early in the second quarter.
“Once I saw how the defense was going to play everything and my offensive line kept blocking, it just went well for me,” Williams said.
MSU had 566 yards of offense and scored the most points surrendered by Ole Miss (5-7, 2-6) since Texas scored 66 in 2012.
Ross said Fitzgerald did a good job of putting the team on his back and taking over when he needed to. Fitzgerald was happy to step up and help MSU recapture the Egg Bowl trophy.
“It’s a phenomenal feeling when you’re running and no one’s around you,” Fitzgerald said. “To do it in a big-time game like this and to do it in front of this crowd, it’s unreal.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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