Fitzgerald, No. 16 Mississippi State rout La.-Lafayette
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Nick Fitzgerald accounted for 350 yards of offense and six touchdowns to lead No. 16 Mississippi State to a 56-10 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday night.
Fitzgerald ran for 107 yards and four touchdowns, the second time he’s had four rushing touchdowns in a game. Fitzgerald also completed 14 of 21 passes 243 yards and two touchdowns.
Aeris Williams added 101 yards and a touchdown on the ground for Mississippi State (3-0). The Bulldogs totaled 607 yards of offense with 331 yards on the ground.
Louisiana’s Andrew Nunez was 21 of 29 for 224 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He threw a 4-yard scoring pass to Jamarcus Bradley in the fourth quarter.
Louisiana (1-1) got on the board first with a 38-yard field goal from Kyle Pfau early in the first quarter. But it was all Mississippi State the rest of the first half. The Bulldogs scored on all five first-half possessions.
Fitzgerald was 8 of 13 passing for 171 yards and a touchdown pass to Stephen Guidry in the opening half. The fifth-year senior also rushed for 81 yards and three scores in the half.
Louisiana was 0 of 5 on third down in the opening half and also failed on all three fourth-down conversion attempts.
THE TAKEAWAY
Nick Fitzgerald bounced by from a slow start against Kansas State and dramatically improved his completion percentage. Fitzgerald was suspended in the opener and in his season debut last weekend at Kansas State, Fitzgerald was just 11 of 27 passing with one interception and two touchdowns.
But he was much more accurate in his second start of the season. He completed 14 of 21 for 243 yards and two touchdowns before exiting the game late in the third quarter. The Georgia player also notched his second straight 100-yard rushing game.
UP NEXT
Mississippi State opens Southwastern Conference pla at Kentucky next Saturday.
Louisiana opens Sun Belt action at home against Coastal Carolina in the first meeting between the two teams.