Next up for Gators, Mullen: Former protégé Fitzgerald
GAINESVILLE — Mississippi State’s Nick Fitzgerald might be UF coach Dan Mullen’s greatest quarterback creation.
Mullen’s reputation as a quarterback guru was put to the test when he signed the lightly recruited Fitzgerald as the heir apparent to Dak Prescott.
Five years later, Fitzgerald is breaking records, including those of Prescott and Tim Tebow, another Mullen protégé.
When Mullen’s Gators (3-1, 1-1 SEC) visit his former Bulldogs (3-1, 0-1) Saturday, slowing down Fitzgerald will be not be easy.
“He brings so many different things to the table,” Mullen said. “You have a big guy that can throw the ball over the field, but can run by you and run over you just as easily. It's a huge challenge when you have a guy that has all of that in one package.”
Fitzgerald arrived to Starkville in January 2014 as a two-star recruit who played the triple option at Richmond Hill (Ga.) High School.
Working with Mullen and learning under Prescott, Fitzgerald slowly evolved into a dependable dual-threat quarterback and critical. It will later into a dangerous one.
Fitzgerald enters Saturday’s matchup as only the third player in SEC history with at least 35 passing and rushing touchdowns. The others? Tebow and Prescott, of course.
The 6-foot-5, 230-pound Fitzgerald, though, soon could be in a league of his own as a running QB. His 16 100-yard rushing games, including two this season for the No. 23 Bulldogs are the most in SEC history.
With 2,772 rushing yards, Fitzgerald is 176 yards shy of Tebow’s record for a quarterback Please turn to UF, C3