Mississippi State Bulldogs vs UMass Minutemen Match Player Stats On Sep 24, 2016

The Sports Xchange
Sep 24, 2016

Nick Fitzgerald threw for 299 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 110 yards to lead Mississippi State to a 47-35 non-conference victory over Massachusetts on Saturday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

Fitzgerald threw two touchdown passes to Fred Ross, his third and fourth TD catches of the season, and one to Farrod Green as the Bulldogs (2-2) came from behind and then held off a late UMass charge for the win.

The Minutemen (1-3) got to within 41-35 in the fourth quarter, but a six-play, 66-yard drive capped by a 12-yard run by Ashton Shumpert with 2:33 left in the game put it away.

Fitzgerald was 25 of 38 through the air while Ross and Donald Gray both had eight catches in the win for the SEC team.

Shumpert, who ripped off another big run in the final minute, ran for 68 yards on 12 carries while Brandon Holloway picked on 80 on 10 carries as the Bulldogs amassed 299 yards rushing and 299 yards passing.

UMass quarterback Andrew Ford threw four touchdown passes but was also picked off three times. He finished 24 of 40 for 273 yards and has seven touchdown passes in the last two games.

Marquise Young, who answered the first of two Wes Graves field goals with an 83-yard-yard touchdown run, finished with 125 yards on 18 carries for the Minutemen, one of four independent FBS programs.

Jalen Williams caught two touchdown passes from Ford as the Minutemen, who totaled 411 yards of offense, held early leads of 7-3 and 14-6.

The game, the Bulldogs' first in the Northeast since Sept. 9, 1986, was a homecoming for coach Dan Mullen, who hails from nearby Manchester, N.H., and said he left some 100 tickets for family and friends.