No. 16 Mississippi State Destroys Louisiana 56-10

STARKVILLE, Miss. — The Mississippi State football team wasted no time Saturday evening, as it scored 35 points in the first half as the Bulldogs cruised to a 56-10 win over Louisiana at Davis Wade Stadium.

With the win, MSU improves to 3-0 on the season. With the loss, Louisiana drops to 1-1.

State held a 14-3 lead after the first quarter and led 35-3 at the half. The Bulldogs’ first half scoring came from three rushing scores by senior quarterback Nick Fitzgerald and one by senior running back Aeris Williams. Fitzgerald connected with junior wide receiver Stephen Guidry last in the second quarter for Guidry’s first touchdown as a Bulldog. That touchdown pass also made Fitzgerald second all-time in career touchdown passes by an MSU quarterback.

The Bulldogs scored 14 in the third quarter and seven in the fourth quarter, while holding Louisiana to just seven points in the second half.

As a team, MSU tallied 607 yards of total offense, including 331 rushing yards and 276 through the air. The Ragin’ Cajuns were held to 310 yards of total offense, including 245 passing yards and just 65 yards on the ground.

Fitzgerald garnered 123 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 15 attempts and went 14-21 passing for 243 yards and a pair of scores. Williams rushed 11 times for 102 yards. Keytaon Thomas rushed five times for 52 yards.

Junior wide receiver Keith Mixon led the Bulldogs receiving with four catches for 80 yards and a score. Guidry hauled in three catches for 57 yards.

Junior linebacker Tim Washington led the Bulldog defense with nine tackles. junior linebacker Leo Lewis finished with eight tackles and sophomore cornerback Cam Dantzler finished with seven.

Next up for MSU, the Bulldogs hit the road to open 2018 Southeastern Conference action at Kentucky (3-0, 1-0 SEC) on Saturday.