Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said a solid week of practice persuaded him to turn sophomore quarterback Nick Fitzgerald loose. Now, he knows it was the right call.
Mullen praised Fitzgerald’s dual-threat performance after the Bulldogs’ 27-14 victory over South Carolina.
“We made the decision we were going to start him and let him go,” Mullen said.
The result: Fitzgerald passed for 178 yards and also rushed 17 times for 195 yards, the latter breaking the school record for rushing yards by a quarterback. That mark of 163 yards, set by John Bond in an Egg Bowl clash with Ole Miss, had stood since 1980.