Bulldogs turn Egg Bowl runny

Published 9:37 pm Saturday, November 26, 2016

OXFORD (AP) — Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen arrived at the postgame press conference with a wide smile on his face and a cigar in his right hand.

It was unlit. He said that wasn’t the case in the locker room.

“It’s pretty smoky,” Mullen said.

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The Bulldogs had good reason to celebrate on Saturday night following a dominant 55-20 road victory over rival Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl.

Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald ran for a school-record 258 yards and two touchdowns and also threw for three touchdowns to bring The Golden Egg trophy back to Starkville after two years in the Rebels’ possession.

The Bulldogs (5-7, 3-5 Southeastern Conference) have won five of eight Egg Bowls under Mullen. This rivalry victory — in front of a 66,038 fans on the Rebels’ home turf — was particularly impressive.

“Every time you win it, it’s awesome,” Mullen said. “Every time you lose, it’s awful. Because it sticks with you. What an unbelievable feeling.”

The Bulldogs finished with 457 rushing yards and averaged nearly 10 yards per rushing play. Aeris Williams added 191 rushing yards and two touchdowns, but it was Fitzgerald who had the biggest gains, including runs of 70 and 61 yards.

Fitzgerald also shattered the record for rushing yards in a season by a quarterback. He entered the game needing only one yard to pass Dak Prescott’s old mark of 986.

“It’s a phenomenal feeling,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s always great when you’re running and no one’s around you. To do it in a big time game like this in front of this crowd — it’s unreal.”

In addition to his rushing output, Fitzgerald completed 8 of 17 passes for 109 yards, with his three touchdown passes going to different receivers.

Ole Miss (5-7, 2-6) was led by freshman quarterback Shea Patterson, who threw for 320 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Akeem Judd led the Rebels with 107 rushing yards.

Mississippi State jumped out to a 27-10 lead by midway through the second quarter largely thanks to big running plays by Fitzgerald and Williams. Ole Miss has struggled with its linebacker play all season and the Bulldogs were eager to exploit that weakness in the middle in the field, hitting the Rebels again and again for big gains.

Ole Miss rallied late in the second quarter with 10 straight points to pull within 27-20 by halftime, but was outscored 28-0 in the second half. By the fourth quarter, Vaught-Hemingway Stadium was strangely quiet except for a small contingent of Mississippi State fans who cheered every moment.

“It stinks and I hate it for the fans, the university, the seniors and everybody involved with this program,” Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said. “It’s a very disappointing night.”

Worst of all for the Rebels was that the loss denied them a chance at a bowl bid. They finished with their first losing record since 2011, the year before Freeze took over the program. That was the last time they failed to reach bowl eligibility.

“It’s very disappointing, because we set the expectations so high,” Ole Miss offensive lineman Javon Patterson said. “You work with these guys all summer and all spring. It hurts, but we just have to come back to work.”