The Friday night before Mississippi State University’s game against Texas A&M, head coach Joe Moorhead decided they were going to come out and make a statement by being more aggressive in how they called offensive plays, and it payed off.
“Last night, we decided we were going to go after this game aggressively,” Moorhead said. “On offense, defense and special teams, but particularly on offense. As I did self-evaluation, I looked at the past few weeks. In some ways, in the fabric of the season, I felt like I lost my identity as a play caller.”
Moorhead said he had worried too much about getting the right protections and routes, but he decided he was going to go on the attack against Texas A&M. This aggression is what Moorhead believes is the offense’s identity, and it is what he wanted to show.
“I got up and talked with the whole offense, and took ownership of some of the conservativeness,” Moorhead said. “I told them that we can’t be as effective as we want to be as an offense without us passing the football and creating explosive plays.”
The key to passing the football in the game was Nick Fitzgerald, a senior quarterback from Richmond Hills, Georgia, who in the previous week at LSU threw four interceptions. Because of Fitzgerald’s performance, he received a lot of criticism from fans, especially on social media, but he also got some support, too.
“In this day and age when everything is at your fingertips on social media, we’re all so connected, 24-seven,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s hard to not see a lot of the hate. At the same time, I got plenty of messages from friends saying, ‘We support you, we love you, we have your back, keep doing you.’ I have family, friends and teammates who believe in me.”
When Fitzgerald took the field as quarterback, he took all of that support and turned it into a 79-yard drive, where he threw for 59 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown pass to Stephen Guidry, a junior from New Roads, Louisiana.
Fitzgerald said this first drive was very important in how the rest of the game unfolded, as he finished the night with 241-yards passing and two touchdowns, as well as 88-yards rushing.
“It was huge. That’s one of our goals is first drive touchdown to start the game off,” Fitzgerald said. “We haven’t had one in a couple of weeks. It was good to finally get on track with that. It felt good to go out there and have a good game.”
Fitzgerald said the game was going to be one where they showed what the offense can do, and they did that by making a statement in how they were able to gain yards and score points, which helped the offense’s confidence.
“We executed, we put up points and showed we could move the ball,” Fitzgerald said. “I think it is kind of huge as a confidence boost to the offense. Especially after a couple of tough weeks. We came out and there and scored points when we could.”
Guidry said the team came out fighting to win the game for their fans, and it showed in how they played as a unit. It was a team effort for them to make the statement they did.
“We just wanted it more. Everybody came out as a group and competed,” Guidry said. “From the quarterback point of view, offensive line, running backs, it was a team effort. So, everybody joined in and did well as a team.”
From the defensive side of the ball, Jaquarius Landrews, a junior safety from Summit, announced his presence on the field with seven tackles and two sacks, as he filled in for Brian Cole who was injured a few games ago.
“It feels really good to have a good game, it took a lot of preparation,” Landrews said. “It was a good game. I’m proud of myself because I was doubting myself at first. I just kept watching film, kept watching film. Everything played out the way I wanted it to play out.”
Landrews said when Cole, a junior safety from Saginaw, Minnesota, went out with an injury, he knew he had to step up and fill those shoes, but he also said they had a relationship where they have had each others’ backs.
“I knew I had to step up, I knew I had to step up,” Landrews said. “During camp, it was always neck and neck, neck and neck. I always had his back, he always had my back. He knew that if he went down or I went down, we always had each other’s back.”
Much like the fans’ celebration, the team’s celebrations did not just stop on the field, but it continued into the locker room. 
“You have to come see it for yourself. It was good.” Landrews said. “It was real good. I really like the celebration. We deserved that game. Everybody came together and the happiness in that locker room, it felt real good to be in there.”
The home victory moved MSU (5-3, 2-3 SEC) one win away from being eligible to play in a bowl game. If they can pull out a win in the homecoming game against Louisiana Tech University, they will earn their eligibility.