OXFORD, Miss. – The Golden Egg is coming back to Starkville after Mississippi State (5-7, 3-5), led by Nick Fitzgerald and Aeris Williams, ran over the Ole Miss Rebels (5-7, 2-6) by a score of 55-20.
Needless to say, there was celebration abound in the locker room after the game. The entire team was given cigars after the game to celebrate the victory. Senior safety Kivon Coman said they have had the cigars for a while but wanted to save it for a victory over a big team.
Head coach Dan Mullen, who walked into the press conference cigar in hand, talked about the locker room and what he told the team after the game.
“It is pretty smoky in that locker room and they handed me one,” Mullen said. “I told them that I am so proud of a bunch of men who can now look and say that when things don’t go your way, ‘tie your boots a little bit tighter and get back to work’. Tighten up and get back to work and if you do that great things will end up happening to you in life. Winning that game gave them that message.”
After two straight losses to Ole Miss, MSU put a 55-20 beat down on the Rebels, which kept the Rebels from reaching bowl eligibility. The run game was the story for MSU on Saturday night as Fitzgerald and Williams broke tackle after tackle all night long.
Williams, a sophomore from West Point, Mississippi, got 25 carries for 191 yards, which is an average of 7.6 yards a carry and two touchdowns. Almost every time Williams got the ball, he would lower his shoulder and run a defender or two over for close to a six-yard gain. He got stronger and stronger as the game progressed. In the fourth quarter, it looked like Ole Miss did not want to tackle him, as he kept running over guys.
Fitzgerald had the best rushing night in the history of MSU football. He broke the all-time school rushing record for a single game, which was formally held by Anthony Dixon. Fitzgerald ran 14 times for 258 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged 18.4 yards a carry and had a long of 70-yards.
Fitzgerald thanked his offensive line after the game.
“The offensive line was blocking their butts off,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s great when you’re running and no one is around you, but to do it in a big-time game like this and in front of this crowd is surreal.”
Defensively, the Bulldogs had the challenge of containing true freshman quarterback Shea Patterson, an elusive player who showed his wheels in the first half. MSU’s defense looked to be having another bad day early after giving up 20 points in the first half. However, defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon and the defense made adjustments and held Ole Miss to zero points in the second half.
Senior linebacker Richie Brown talked about the adjustments they made to contain Patterson.
“He was a very shifty guy,” Brown said. “We just knew when started scrambling out of the pocket we had to plaster all the receivers, stay on your man, and whoever wasn’t on their man had to go get him.”
Going forward, there is the question of MSU making a bowl game. MSU is 5-7, which is not a bowl eligible record, but there may not be enough bowl eligible teams in order to fill all the bowls that there are now. If that is the case, there is a chance MSU would get a bowl bid. They would need some more teams to lose, but there is a possibility.
Mullen said the decision is up to athletic director John Cohen but he made it sound like that if they got a bid, he would take it. He even campaigned a little to the bowl representatives in the back of the media room.
“If we get that opportunity, I’ll love it,” Mullen said. “I do know this, if we do get the opportunity, as always you are going to get a team that plays really hard and a fan base that is passionate about their team and is going to show up and support their football team.”
The future is uncertain for MSU. They could be in a bowl, they could be at home all winter. MSU will find that out in the coming weeks.