#22 Mississippi State Football Falls to #5 LSU 19-3

BATON ROUGE, La. – The No. 22 Mississippi State football team fell to the No. 5 LSU Tigers 19-3 in a Southeastern Conference defensive battle Saturday evening at Tiger Stadium.

With the loss, MSU drops to 4-3 (1-3 SEC) on the season, while LSU improves to 7-1 (4-1 SEC).

The Tigers took a 7-0 lead after senior quarterback Nick Fitzgerald threw an interception on the third play from scrimmage that set LSU up at the Bulldog 3-yard line. LSU running back Nick Brossette punched it in from a yard out o third and goal.

The Bulldogs followed the LSU score with a seven-play drive that ended with a 19-yard field goal from sophomore kicker Jace Christmann to make it a 7-3 ballgame.

The Bulldog defense held LSU to four field goals the remainder of the game, but the Tigers’ defense would allow MSU only one field goal all game. LSU’s senior kicker Cole Tracy finished off the scoring for the Tigers Saturday night, going 4-for-4 with field goals of 25, 38, 29 and 40 yards in the game.

The Bulldogs outgained the Tigers 260-239. Fitzgerald passed for just 59 yards on 8-24 passing. The LSU defense snagged four interceptions in the game.

On the ground, MSU compiled 201 yards, led by Fitzgerald with 23 rushes for 131 yards. That is now 18 games that he has rushed for at least 100 yards, which is the most in school history. He also became the first SEC quarterback to accumulate 3,000 career rushing yards on the day.

Sophomore running back Kylin Hill rushed for 42 yards on eight carries, while senior running back Aeris Williams added 28 yards on six carries.

Defensively, MSU held the Tigers to just 129 yards through the air and 110 on the ground. Senior safeties Johnathan Abram and Mark McLaurin led the bulldogs with 10 tackles each. Abram also had a sack on the evening. Junior defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons also led the Bulldogs with 10 tackles.

MSU now returns home to host No. 17 Texas A&M (5-2, 1-1 SEC) next Saturday.