Nick Fitzgerald continued to climb up the record books on Saturday in a game which was much tougher than many fans and experts predicted when No. 18 Mississippi State University (7-2, 3-4 SEC) football fought back to beat the University of Massachusetts (2-7) by a score of 34-23.
The Bulldogs ultimately overcame a sluggish first half performance, coming back from a 20-13 deficit at halftime. Of the nine games MSU has played this year, Saturday’s game was the first decided by less than two touchdowns.
Head coach Dan Mullen reiterated all week the UMass team was better than their records showed.
“We’ve not really been in a lot of tight games this year but coming into today, we knew we were in for a battle,” Mullen said. “Even though they were 2-6 they have only been outscored by five points on the season, so we knew we would have our hands full. At the half, I told the guys to just focus on your job and play to our standards. There was no rallying speech for a movie, it was just everyone go out and do your job.”
The driving force behind MSU’s impressive second-half performance and comeback victory was the play of quarterback Fitzgerald, who finished the game with 136 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns and 139 yards through the air.
It was a rough first half for Fitzgerald and the entire Bulldogs offense as they struggled to run the ball. Fitzgerald also threw two interceptions, including a pick six in the first half.
However, Fitzgerald and the rest of the offense bounced back with a strong second-half performance, spearheaded by a dominant ground game which produced 167 yards rushing in the final two quarters.
Saturday’s game was the fifth time this season Fitzgerald rushed for over 100 yards and the 13th time overall in his career, which tied him with Jerious Norwood for second in MSU history. Fitzgerald also moved passed Vick Ballard for third most career rushing touchdowns, 31, in school history.
Fitzgerald, a junior from Richmond Hill, Georgia, not only moved up the MSU record books, but also passed notable SEC legends as well. He has rushed for 2,303 yards in his career, which pushed him past former Texas A&M University QB Johnny Manziel and former MSU QB John Bond, for fourth place all-time in SEC career rushing yards by a quarterback.
Next on the list is another former MSU QB, Dak Prescott. Prescott’s mark is 2,541 career rushing yards. The top of the mountain is the former University of Florida QB Tim Tebow, who had 2,947 rushing yards in his career. Barring injury, Fitzgerald has the last three games of this season and next season to rush for 644 yards.
Fitzgerald talked about staying in the moment after the game.
“Honestly I just play. I’m sure once I’m done it’ll hit me and I’ll be able to process it and look back on it,” Fitzgerald said. “Right now I’m focused on the next day, the next opponent and just trying to get better.”
Mullen talked about Fitzgerald compared to some of the great past rushing quarterbacks in SEC history.
“John [Bond] ran the wishbone, Johnny Manziel did it scrambling and being able to run all over the place, Tim Tebow was a power inside runner, but Nick [Fitzgerald] is doing it in a combination of ways,” Mullen said. “He’s not just running in between the tackles but he’s running some option plays and he’s getting out on the perimeter for big gains.”
Fitzgerald’s ability to run is what makes him a special player. His legs helped MSU tread water on offense in the first half and get two field goals. Along with running back Aeris Williams, who also rushed over 100 yards, Fitzgerald got things going in the second half.
Senior left tackle and NFL prospect Martinas Rankin, from Mendenhall, made his return from an ankle injury on Saturday. He did not start, but saw action as he looked to knock the rust off before the Bulldogs’ next game against the No. 1 University of Alabama (9-0, 6-0 SEC).
Rankin talked about how Fitzgerald’s ability to run impacts the game.
“Any given play can be a big play so we have to make sure we do our job up front,” Martinas said. “I’ve had a running QB at every level I’ve played at and with Nick we know if we do our job he can take it to the house.”
UMass head coach Mark Whipple also took notice of Fitzgerald’s impact running the ball.
“Fitzgerald was a little bit off his throw game,” Whipple said. “They came out in the second half and ran the ball pretty well on us. With Fitzgerald, that’s kind of his best thing.”
Fitzgerald recognizes his impact as a runner, but said after the game he feels comfortable both as a runner and a passer.
“I’m comfortable with both, it just so happens I had a few more rushing yards than passing yards,” Fitzgerald said.

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SEC QB career rushing yards