10 Notables From No. 16 MSU's 56-10 Win Over Louisiana

Saturday, September 15

Starkville

6:30 PM

Mississippi State

3-0

Louisiana

1-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Louisiana

Mississippi State

10 Notables From No. 16 MSU's 56-10 Win Over Louisiana

September 15, 2018 | Football

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by Caleb Garner, Graduate Assistant/Communications

STARKVILLE - Once again, the Mississippi State football team showed it can be just as effective on the ground as it is through the air on Saturday night en route to a 56-10 victory against Louisiana at Davis Wade Stadium.

After Louisiana (1-1) opened up the contest with a 38-yard field goal, State (3-0) responded quickly with a one-yard rush by Nick Fitzgerald—one of three rushing scores in the first half for the Richmond Hill, Georgia, senior. After that, the Bulldogs never looked back.

In the first half, MSU got off to a quick and comfortable 35-3 lead on rushing scores by Fitzgerald and Aeris Williams. Fitzgerald connected with Stephen Guidry last in the second quarter for Guidry's first touchdown in the Maroon and White.

The Bulldogs led by as much as 49-3, until the Ragin' Cajuns tacked on a late score in the fourth quarter. That was until Keytaon Thompson responded with a touchdown of his own to close out the contest.

10 Things To Note From MSU's Win Against Louisiana …

1. By Ground Or By Air
Fitzgerald once again made his presence felt with both his legs and his arm, tossing for 243 yards on 14 completions with a pair of scores. On the ground, he scampered for 107 yards on 15 carries while tying a career-best four touchdowns, last achieved on Nov. 16, 2016 against Arkansas.

His 100-yard game on the ground was the 16th of his career, putting him just one shy of tying Anthony Dixon for the most all-time.

2. Fitzgerald Passes, Dashes Up MSU Record Books
With a 39-yard touchdown strike to Stephen Guidry in the second quarter, Fitzgerald passed Tyler Russell for second all-time in career touchdown passes by an MSU signal caller.

Fitzgerald also moved into fourth all-time in career rushing yards by an MSU player, passing Michael Davis. He now sits just 68 yards shy of tying Bulldog great Walter Packer for third place.

In the Southeastern Conference quarterback career rushing yardage charts, Fitzgerald is now just 195 yards shy of Tim Tebow's league-best mark.

3. Bulldogs Continue To Showcase Potent Run Game
MSU ran for over 300 yards for the second-straight game, tallying 331 yards on the ground in Saturday's win.

4. Strong Start, Fast Start
The Bulldogs scored 35 points in the first half, tying the most in a half since scoring 37 on Oct. 10, 2015 against Troy.

5. Third Time's A Charm
On third downs, the Bulldogs seemingly always came through, going 8-for-11 on third down. Defensively, the Maroon and White held Louisiana to just 4-of-13 in third down situations.

6. Rush Defense Flexes Its Muscle (Again)
On defense, the Bulldogs only allowed 65 yards on the ground against the Ragin' Cajuns, and only 2.5 yards per carry.

7. All Aboard The A-Train
Aeris Williams notched his best performance of the season thus far, rushing 11 times for 101 yards—an average of 9.2 per carry. Williams also continued his excellent track record of ball security, now having gone 114 carries without fumbling. His streak without a lost fumble is even larger, now at 420.

8. Red Zone Efficiency
The Bulldogs once again shined in the red zone, scoring all five times they were inside the Ragin' Cajun's 20—all touchdowns.

9. Chunk Plays
For the third week in a row, State continued to find success on plays of 20-plus yards, tallying 11 plays of at least 20 yards.

10. Havoc In The Backfield
The Bulldogs' front seven again caused problems in the backfield, tallying 8.0 tackles-for-loss, including a pair of sacks. Chauncey Rivers picked up two of those TFLs, a career-high for the defensive end out of Stone Mountain, Georgia.

Quotable …

"With the offense, defense and special teams, the message that we emphasized throughout camp and into this season was to expect success. This isn't a glass-half-full program, this is a glass-overflowing program. Every time we step onto the field on offense, we expect it to end in a touchdown. Every time we step on the field defensively, we expect it to be a three-and-out. That's what the expectation level is, and no one rises to low expectations." – Head Coach Joe Moorhead, on his team's offensive success

Next Up For MSU …

MSU hits the road next Saturday, Sept. 22, to open 2018 Southeastern Conference action at Kentucky (3-0, 1-0 SEC). It will be the 46th meeting between the Bulldogs and Wildcats all-time with MSU holding a 23-22 edge in the series (MSU has won eight of the last nine affairs). The game is set to kickoff at 7:00 p.m. ET (6:00 p.m. CT) at UK's Kroger Field and will be televised by ESPN2.