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Nick Fitzgerald rushed for two touchdowns and gave another score as the Mississippi State, number 18, put Ole Miss in a 35-3 rout. A year after the devastating injury suffered in the first quarter by his 2017 Egg Bowl on Scott Field, the senior quarterback was able to leave the Rebel field with his second victory in the rivalry.
"Going through something like this, it was amazing," Fitzgearld said. "To know the people behind them, we have to go to their homes and dominate them in front of their fans. It was huge. "
Huge for the state of Mississippi program and, if possible, huge for the freshman coach. Joe Moorhead As much as it has been admitted in some ways, the season has not been as long as expected for a team of veterans. But close the regular schedule this way, with a unilateral response from his great rival, "This is a tremendous positive momentum."
Mississippi State 8-4, 4-4 SEC) will have a good wait to learn his bowl work on December 2nd. Ole Miss (5-7, 1-7). The visiting team won the last four Egg Bowls, and if that victory was not thwarted, it did not diminish Bulldog's pleasure in retaking possession of the Golden Egg.
"The greatest joy I have is seeing these guys catch this trophy and celebrate them in the locker room," said Moorhead.
There were many field celebrations first, which bristled the feathers and feelings of the rebels. Ole Miss did not fight enough while the stopwatch was running, but a few tried to get rid of the horn. A flag planting by NG Jeffery Simmons shouted with frustration, and Moorhead and his counterparts got involved before everyone was separated and left for his locker room.
There was also a feud in the game. An apparent touch of Miss Ole resulted in the disqualification of players on both sides. Then the points were removed during the exam because the third trimester had expired.
Such conflicts are not unknown in Egg Bowls. Moorhead realized, however, that he had no idea of the intensity of the rivalry. So he left the LB team captains Gerri Green and Fitzgerald have the last word before leaving the hotel. "It was something fast, I may have talked for 10-15 seconds," Fitzgerald said. "What it meant to us and how important this game was and how much we needed to win it."
Intense discussions were going well. Smart Scheming was better. Moorhead and the staff kept this one reasonably simple: book, book, book. "From the first coach, he told us what was the game plan," RB Kylin Hill I said. "We were ready for that."
Ole Miss certainly knew what to expect from the Bulldog ground game. They were simply not equipped to stop for an entire evening. State ended up running 51 times, called or guarded, for 309 yards at goal. Fitzgerald (117) and Hill (108) both exceeded the century in ruins, while RB Aeris Williams added 64 more yards. All found the goal zone.
"We were going to run straight to the ball until they stopped," said Fitzgerald, who recorded his 20th career match at 100-yard speed and his second against Ole Miss. He also became the first quarterback of the Bulldog to accumulate two yards in the race. seasons. "Certainly throwing the ball a bit, but our main goal was to dominate the line of scrimmage and beat her in the center as much as possible. I think we did a good job. "
Very well. The game plan faded a few times and the state was only 6 out of 13 at the third try. Nevertheless, the dogs moved the chains often and far enough to control the tempo and the time. Fitzgerald also had a professional night in the air: 11 of his 18 attempts for 111 yards and the other touchdown.
One touchdown would have been enough to win because everything was played. But the Bulldogs needed to build their early margin and give their defense a real margin. Again, this unit continued to make its own margins with a lot of pounding.
So much so that after starting quarterback Jordan Ta'amu, who had left the match with one arm in the air and freshman Matt Corrall took over, the Rebels seemed to want to finish the match. evening with them. The white flag went almost entirely to safer racing games.
"I would not say that they surrendered," said LB Erroll Thompson, whose success has contributed to the premature exit of Ta'amu. "But I have the feeling that they did not want to spread the ball anymore, I guess they sat there."
There was no early emotional abandonment. Physically, Ole Miss was mistreated in the first series. Their aerial play, rightly vaunted, had a few shots of its own, including 15 yards in the first touchdown of the game. It was the exceptional pieces in every sense of the film when the state of Mississippi collapsed.
After a period, the rebels were still aimless, a very good sign for the dogs. "We always talk about the first quarter, we want a clean game," said Simmons. "He was great, especially they have the number two offense in the country and with these types receivers was a challenge.It was great to keep them out of the end zone."
Bigger was forcing the first big mistake. Initially, the Bulldog's special teams seemed to have offered Ole Miss a gift after forcing a second-round punt. OF Sweat ride stayed on the ground while WR Malik Cher has returned to receive. Wear # 9 and the Equipment penalty meant a free first try at the 30-meter line.
The rebels quickly regretted not having paginated. Your amu was caught on a goalkeeper by Simmons, the ball came out free and LB Willie Gay Jr. caught on the carom. Gay also robbed his team 15 yards by swinging the ball to thwart his attack.
"It was pretty cool, no matter the fault," admitted Thompson.
Moorhead did not think so. But his attack was cool with everything. "It's a huge momentum change," Fitzgerald said. "The defense plays hard and a foul like this, they make a mistake. You must capitalize. "
State of Mississippi did. WR Deddrick Thomas He shot a third ball for a first goal at 17 and three rushes got the rest with Hill doing the six-yard honors at 5:02.
The quarterbacks changed after four rushes from Williams scored 49 yards. Fitzgerald finished the series by scoring eight yards in right-wing traffic for a 14-0 lead at 14:04.
Ole Miss is on the board during this period, but even these points have been a failure. A group of 34 has reached 15 with three and five. S Johnathan Abram interrupted Ta'amu's shot and the Rebels scored on goal at 6:46.
This score was valid when State took control at 3:28. Moorhead seemed to miss half. But after a first run, Hill's pioneered a 30-yard run through the middle of the field. State quickly composed a throw and WR Stephen Guidry makes a sparkling take on Jalen Julius for 25 more.
Fitzgerald has suspended one for WR 3 and 10 Osirus Mitchell at the right pylon. He is Javien Hamilton struggled hand-to-hand when two flags flew. The decision was favorable to Mitchell for the first goal and the nine. Fitzgerald's next throw was in the midfield Thomas open area.
"Excellent protection," said Moorhead. "In the man to man coverage, Deddrick did a great job of running the man and opening himself up. This is definitely a good way to get into the locker room. "
If a 21-3 lead seemed sufficient, adding another touchdown in the third period made it insurmountable. State did nothing in the first round but got a good result on P Tucker Day's kick at Rebel 15. Ta'amu was fired by Green at the time of eight, then tried again to throw. Thompson came home when Ta'amu threw, the balloon dying and falling into Abram's hands.
His return was on the 19th and ready for the fatal blow. Williams got the first ten meters and Fitzgerald the other nine, at 10:42.
With Ta'amu finished after the big hit Corral, most of the time. The Rebels have gone as far as State 39 with 4th and 6th places and have no choice but to try. S. CJ Morgan broke the throw. A later series of midfielder Corral shot a long time at WR DaMarkus Lodge for the catch and what should have been a touchdown.
S Maurice Smitherman did not give up. "He somehow beat me out of line, I tried to recover and I caught him by the arm. I just took it off his hands. A real takeaway to the goal line by Smitherman has become a touchdown that has not been seen again.
Ole Miss's last chance to save an offensive pride came during the latter part of the third period. Or almost play. The clock struck 0:00 before the snap and the dog defense relaxed. A.J. from Starkville Brown was open at 3 pm and muscular. During its celebration, the first fight began with the almost total release of the two benches. The test proved that it was not a game, and Brown's touch was won despite all the disqualifications.
The series is over on a bag of 3 to 17 places Corral, the first bag of this season for Simmons and his first in a Egg Bowl to start. "It was great. It was time to move on, I was patient, I prayed for my tete-a-tete. I made a good shot at the center and I got it.
It was only late at night. The Bulldogs managed to kick the ball, an 89-yard run with Williams, who scored a touchdown at 7:21.
Ole Miss finished with a total of 189 yards on an average of 539 in mid-season. It was a magnificent Dogs defense performance that was virtually halted, especially when the Rebels were only 13 out of 25 with two selections and 152 yards. . "(Ta'amu) was trying to leave quickly, so trying to be the quarterback is hurrying. We had bags tonight, "said Simmons.
"We knew that they were going to try to broadcast the ball with the body of receivers that they had," Thompsons said. "Yes, we took that as a challenge." The rebel is eager to score 37 yards thanks to four sacks. There were 11.0 total tackles for 51 yards of losses.
Showers after the game did not diminish Bulldog's margin of victory. Or the defeat of the rebels, either. The golden egg was back in good hands and no puzzles were of any importance as Dogs showed the trophy to his group and his supporters.
"It's not just our egg," said Simmons. "It's also their egg."
Fitzgerald is content to give the egg a quick kiss in front of the group and then watched his teammates entertain. He also watched the antics after the match. "I am absolutely listening, absolutely. I'm not part of that. That's not how I like to play. But it's a game of rivalry. Things have warmed up. It happens."
Nothing happened like the grief of last year. State's quarterback was also broken this time. Fitzgerald had to dismantle his rival to complete this phase of his career in Bulldog.
"And to finish with a huge Egg Bowl win is huge."
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