Texas A&M Aggies vs Mississippi State Bulldogs Match Player Stats On Nov 05, 2016

The Sports Xchange
Nov 5, 2016

Sophomore quarterback Nick Fitzgerald accounted for four touchdowns and had 391 yards of total offense to lead Mississippi State to a stunning 35-28 upset of No. 4 Texas A&M on Saturday in a Southeastern Conference contest at Starkville, Miss.

Fitzgerald passed for 209 yards and two touchdowns and added 182 yards and two scores on the ground. Senior receiver Fred Ross caught six passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns for the Bulldogs (4-5, 2-3 SEC), who outgained the Aggies 574-382.

Texas A&M was surprisingly ranked fourth in the initial College Football Playoff of the season and assured it will take a significant drop in Tuesday's second poll.

Aggies senior quarterback Trevor Knight departed in the second quarter with a shoulder injury and junior Jake Hubenak completed 11 of 17 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns in his place. Sophomore receiver Christian Kirk returned a punt 93 yards for a touchdown and caught seven passes for 144 yards and one touchdown.

The Aggies were powerless to stop Mississippi State's ground assault. The Bulldogs finished with 365 rushing yards with Fitzgerald and sophomore running back Aeris Williams (140 yards, one touchdown) each having big days.

Texas A&M recovered from a 21-point second-quarter deficit to move within seven in the fourth quarter but Mississippi State answered with a punishing 14-play, 73-yard drive that took 7:26 off the clock. Fitzgerald punctuated the drive by bulling his way into the end zone on a 4-yard keeper to make it 35-21 with 3:08 remaining.

The Aggies answered on Hubenak's 4-yard scoring pass to senior wideout Josh Reynolds with 1:33 left. The ensuing onside kick was recovered by Mississippi State junior receiver Donald Gray.

Texas A&M got the ball back one more time and Bulldogs sophomore safety Mark McLaurin sealed the upset with an interception with 14 seconds to play.

The Aggies played the second half without Knight, who aggravated his right shoulder injury on at least two occasions during the first half.

On the second time, Knight landed on his right arm while being tackled out-of-bounds late in the second quarter. He changed into street clothes at halftime and was sporting a sling on his right arm in the second half.

Hubenak replaced Knight and finally got the Aggies into the end zone when he teamed with Kirk on a 54-yard scoring pass to cut Mississippi State's lead to 28-21 with 10:42 remaining.

Kirk's electrifying punt return prevented the Aggies from trailing by 21 points at the half. He fielded the punt at the 7-yard line and immediately avoided two tackles while veering to the right. He darted up the terrain and soon found a large gap and kicked it into a higher gear to easily sprint down the sideline for the 93-yard score to pull Texas A&M within 28-14 with 19 seconds left in the half.

That play was one of the few downers for Mississippi State, which had a 372-146 edge in total yards over the first 30 minutes.

The Bulldogs' first offense play of the game went for a touchdown as Fitzgerald ran a keep to the left and navigated his way into the clear for a 74-yard scoring run just 2:42 into the contest.

Mississippi State increased its lead to 14-0 when Williams scored on a 2-yard run with 4:36 left in the opening quarter. The Aggies answered with an 11-play, 75-yard drive in which Knight scored on a 19-yard keeper with three seconds left in the quarter.

Knight landed on the right shoulder while diving for the end zone on the scoring play as well. He was treated on the sidelined and returned in the second quarter.

The Bulldogs scored on the first play of a drive for the second time when Fitzgerald tossed a 60-yard pass to Ross with 10:53 left in the first half. Fitzgerald hit Ross on a 7-yard scoring pass with 3:54 left to make it 28-7.

NOTES: Texas A&M sophomore WR Christian Kirk has returned three punts for touchdowns in the past two games and holds the school record of five. ... Mississippi State senior WR Fred Ross had 98 receiving yards to move into second place in school history with 2,252. He needs 19 yards to supplant school leader Chad Bumphis (2,270 from 2009-12). ... Aggies junior DE Myles Garrett (ankle) left in the third quarter after aggravating his injury. ... Bulldogs QB Nick Fitzgerald has accounted for 17 touchdowns over the past four games. ... Texas A&M RB Trayveon Williams had just 28 rushing yards, well below his average of 97 entering the game. Williams (804) is vying to become the fourth true freshman in Aggies history to rush for 1,000 yards.