STARKVILLE — New Mississippi State head coach Joe Moorhead challenged his team and the fans to elevate from ‘good to great’ all spring. The Bulldog faithful rose to the occasion as an MSU spring game record crowd of 36,789 watched the Maroon team defeat the White 28-10 Saturday in Davis Wade Stadium.

The attendance shattered the previous spring game record of 36,357 in 2011. The day began with a player autograph session and continued with the first ‘Dawg Walk’ of the Moorhead era, followed by the recognition of guest captains Dak Prescott, Gabe Jackson, Johnthan Banks and Fred Ross.

“I would like to thank the fans for coming out,” Moorhead said. “We kind of issued a challenge to elevate from good to great and break the record, and they came out even with the baseball game change kind of splitting the crowd a little bit. So that was awesome, and it was certainly exciting to get the four captains back here. With Dak and those guys, it meant a lot to me, and it meant a lot to the program.”

Sophomore running back Kylin Hill totaled 99 all-purpose yards, rushing for 50 yards on nine carries and three touchdowns. He caught three passes for 29 yards and had one kickoff return for 20 yards.

Hill reached the end zone twice in the second quarter, scoring on runs of 9 and 2 yards to give Maroon a 21-7 halftime advantage.

Hill put the finishing touches on the Maroon’s victory with a 1-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore quarterback Keytaon Thompson played for both squads. He was 19-of-31 for 254 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions in a Maroon uniform, and was 7-of-13 for 62 yards with the White team.

Thompson also had 36 rushing yards on seven total carries. He did not throw a touchdown or an interception for the White. He said he didn’t find out until Friday that he would be playing for both teams.

“That was wild, going back and forth in that first half. It was a good thing it wasn’t live because I probably would have taken off a couple of times and been tired,” Thompson said. “I didn’t find out until yesterday, and then I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ I started drinking a lot of water so I wouldn’t cramp up.”

Incumbent starting quarterback Nick Fitzgerald did not play as he continues to recover from a broken leg suffered in last year’s season finale against Ole Miss. Fitzgerald did, however, participate in spring practice on a limited basis.

Moorhead said Thompson has benefited from increased playing time this spring.

“At that position it’s a lifestyle. With Nick getting the 7-on-7 reps in practice and Keytaon getting the team reps, his maturation and where he is to now, we’re fortunate to have two quarterbacks returning of that caliber,” Moorhead said.

Redshirt freshman receiver Austin Williams was also a standout. He hauled in five passes for 86 yards and one touchdown on a brilliant grab in the corner of the end zone in the second quarter.

Nick Gibson provided the biggest play of the game, racing 51 yards for a touchdown that tied the game at 7 with 7:53 remaining in the first quarter. Gibson finished with 74 yards and the one touchdown on six carries.

Maroon outgained White, 362 yards to 228, and the teams combined for 387 passing yards.
Defensively, Marquiss Spencer led the day with 2.5 tackles for loss, while Montez Sweat added two sacks. Spencer also recovered a fumble.

Saturday finished the first spring of the Moorhead era. The Bulldogs will now turn their attention to offseason workouts and report for preseason camp in early August.

“We’re entering phase three now. Phase one was winter conditioning, phase two was spring ball, and phase three will be the offseason,” Moorhead said. “Now it’ll be incumbent upon the leadership of the team. We’re passing it off to them. The coaches aren’t necessarily allowed to be around as much, and the best teams I’ve been around are player-driven teams and not coach-driven teams. We’re passing the team over to our captains.”