Field Level Media
Nov 22, 2018
Nick Fitzgerald ran for two touchdowns and passed for another as No. 18 Mississippi State routed Ole Miss 35-3 on Thursday night in Oxford, Miss.
Fitzgerald rushed 18 times for 117 yards and completed 11 of 18 passes for 111 yards. He had scoring runs of 8 and 9 yards and threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Deddrick Thomas.
A week earlier, the senior had four touchdown passes and one rushing touchdown in a 52-6 victory against Arkansas in the last home game of a career in which he became the Southeastern Conference's career leader in rushing yards by a quarterback.
The Bulldogs improved to 8-4 and 4-4 in the SEC by winning the 91st edition of the Battle for the Golden Egg in coach Joe Moorhead's first season. The Rebels finished 5-7, 1-7.
The Bulldogs led 21-3 at halftime and extended the margin when Fitzgerald, who sustained a fractured ankle in last season's Egg Bowl, produced his 9-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter.
Aeris Williams ran 1 yard for a touchdown to complete the scoring halfway through the fourth quarter.
Matt Corral replaced Jordan Ta'amu at quarterback for Ole Miss after Ta'amu threw a third-quarter interception, one of three turnovers by the Rebels. Ta'amu completed 8 of 17 passes for 87 yards, and Corral completed 5 of 8 for 65 yards as Ole Miss could never sustain anything offensively.
Ole Miss finished with just 37 rushing yards and 189 total yards. The Bulldogs ran for 309 of their 420 total yards.
Kylin Hill, who finished with 108 yards on 17 carries, ran 6 yards for a touchdown that gave Mississippi State a 7-0 lead after the first quarter.
Fitzgerald ran 8 yards for a touchdown before Luke Logan got Ole Miss on the scoreboard with a 32-yard field goal that cut the deficit to 14-3 in the second quarter.
The touchdown pass from Fitzgerald to Thomas increased the lead to 21-3 in the final minute before halftime.
The visiting team has won each of the past four Egg Bowl games.
--Field Level Media