Mississippi State beats Texas A&M for 3rd straight win
COLLEGE STATION -- Mississippi State hasn’t played a close game this season and that trend continued on Saturday night at Texas A&M. The Bulldogs whipped the Aggies 35-14 at Kyle Field to win their third consecutive game.
Mississippi State (6-2, 3-2 SEC) hadn’t won or lost a game by less than 25 points heading into Saturday’s contest. The Aggies (5-3, 3-2) were coming off their bye week, but looked like the frazzled team between the lines on Saturday.
The Bulldogs burst to a 14-0 halftime lead thanks to a run-stuffing and pass-swatting defense. Nick Fitzgerald got MSU on the board late in the first quarter with a 2-yard touchdown keeper to cap a 16-play, 86-yard drive.
Late in the second quarter MSU added to its lead with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Fitzgerald to Donald Gray, the fourth play of a 53-yard drive highlighted by Fitzgerald’s 45-yard dash against a reeling defense.
After halftime MSU picked up where it left off, as Fitzgerald connected with Farrod Green on a 41-yard passing play, and then Fitzgerald hooked up with a wide-open Jordan Thomas on a 10-yard touchdown pass to lift the Bulldogs to a 21-0 lead with 11:47 left in the third quarter.
A&M finally got on the board in the third quarter on a direct snap to running back Keith Ford for a 1-yard touchdown, capping a drive highlighted by quarterback Kellen Mond’s 33-yard scramble. The Bulldogs answered quickly with an interception of Mond’s pass and, three plays later, Nick Gibson bulled his way into the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown run to again push the MSU lead to a comfortable three touchdowns.
A year earlier Fitzgerald had blasted 74 yards for a touchdown on the Bulldogs’ first play from scrimmage in an eventual 35-28 MSU victory in Starkville, Miss., that squashed the national-title hopes of A&M, slotted fourth in the initial College Football Playoff rankings last season.
After halftime MSU picked up where it left off, as Fitzgerald connected with Farrod Green on a 41-yard passing play, and then Fitzgerald hooked up with a wide-open Jordan Thomas on a 10-yard touchdown pass to lift the Bulldogs to a 21-0 lead with 11:47 left in the third quarter.
A&M finally got on the board in the third quarter on a direct snap to running back Keith Ford for a 1-yard touchdown, capping a drive highlighted by quarterback Kellen Mond’s 33-yard scramble. The Bulldogs answered quickly with an interception of Mond’s pass and, three plays later, Nick Gibson bulled his way into the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown run to again push the MSU lead to a comfortable three touchdowns.
A year earlier Fitzgerald had blasted 74 yards for a touchdown on the Bulldogs’ first play from scrimmage in an eventual 35-28 MSU victory in Starkville, Miss., that squashed the national-title hopes of A&M, slotted fourth in the initial College Football Playoff rankings last season.
