NCAAF Game Recap - Mississippi State at Arkansas
Sat Nov 18, 2017 12:00 PM EST

Mer
0
Bama
56
F
UVA
28
MiaFL
44
F
Okla
41
Kans
3
F
Cit
3
Clem
61
F
Mich
10
Wisc
24
F
ULMon
14
Aub
42
F
KY
13
UGA
42
F
Ill
14
OSU
52
F
Navy
17
ND
24
F
K St
45
OkSt
40
F
TCU
27
TxTch
3
F
UCLA
23
USC
28
F
Neb
44
PSU
56
F
UCF
45
Temp
19
F
Utah
30
Wash
33
F
MissSt
28
Ark
21
F
SMU
45
Mem
66
F
Cal
14
Stan
17
F
LSU
30
Tenn
10
F
MD
7
MSU
17
F
Tuls
20
SoFL
27
F
Tex
28
WVU
14
F
NCSt
24
Wake
30
F
C Mi
42
Kent
23
F
Ohio
34
Akr
37
F
WestMI
31
NIU
35
F
E Mi
27
MiaOH
24
F
Toled
66
BGSU
37
F
Buff
40
Ball
24
F
TnSt
6
JacSt
36
F
MidTN
38
W Ky
41
F(2OT)
UNLV
38
NM
35
F
Cin
20
ECU
48
F
Lib
19
ChaSo
20
F
JMU
31
Elon
3
F
MIN
0
NW
39
F
Rut
0
Ind
41
F
DelSt
6
FlaSt
77
F
Pitt
14
VaTec
20
F
Fres
13
Wyo
7
F
HBU
33
SamHu
53
F
Rice
21
OD
24
F
IASt
23
Bayl
13
F
Hawaii
0
UtSt
38
F
TxSt
12
ArkSt
30
F
SoAl
0
GaSo
52
F
AzSt
40
OreSt
24
F
LT
42
UTEP
21
F
UMass
16
BYU
10
F
UNCC
21
SMiss
66
F
WCU
10
UNC
65
F
SJSU
14
ColSt
42
F
Purd
24
Iowa
15
F
Syr
10
Lou
56
F
GATec
20
Duke
43
F
Hou
17
Tul
20
F
Wof
10
SCar
31
F
UAB
7
Fla
36
F
CoCar
13
Idaho
7
F
NMS
34
ULLaf
47
F
Army
49
NorTx
52
F
Ariz
28
Oreg
48
F
Marsh
7
UTSA
9
F
TxAM
31
Miss
24
F
FLInt
24
FlAtl
52
F
BC
39
UConn
16
F
MIZ
45
Vand
17
F
AF
19
Boise
44
F
NEV
23
SDSU
42
F
BGSU
31
E Mi
34
F
MiaOH
28
Ball
7
F
Kent
14
Akr
24
F

Nov 18, 2017, 12:00 PM EST

Final

1

2

3

4

T

(17) Mississippi State (8-3)

0

14

0

14

28

Arkansas (4-7)

14

0

7

0

21

Fitzgerald helps No. 17 Mississippi State top Arkansas 28-21
Sat Nov 18, 2017 5:30 PM

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) Nick Fitzgerald has established himself as nothing short of one of the Southeastern Conference's top quarterbacks, if not the best, in his two seasons at the starter at Mississippi State.

The Bulldogs junior added another moment to his growing legacy in Starkville on Saturday, rallying No. 17 Mississippi State (8-3, 4-3) for a 28-21 win over reeling Arkansas.

Fitzgerald accounted for three touchdowns and totaled 254 yards in the win, finishing 12-of-23 passing for 153 yards and rushing 22 times for 101 yards. It wasn't until he connected with Deddrick Thomas for a 6-yard touchdown with 17 seconds remaining, however, that the Bulldogs had their first lead of the game.

The score capped the second game-winning drive in the fourth quarter of Fitzgerald's career. His other came in a St. Petersburg Bowl win over Miami (Ohio) last season, a game in which the Bulldogs scored with more than 12 minutes remaining and held on for the victory.

Saturday's winning drive came in the final minutes of the game, and it helped Mississippi State survive a lackluster performance that featured four fumbles.

"There was never any doubt we were going to win," Fitzgerald said. "The last drive we went out there with full confidence and we knew we were going to punch it in."

The Bulldogs have now won at least eight games in a season for the fourth time in coach Dan Mullen's nine years. They had already earned bowl eligibility for a school-record eighth straight season, but Saturday was a welcomed win a week after a disappointing loss to No. 1 Alabama .

It came at the expense of an Arkansas (4-7, 1-6) team that's now lost nine of its last 13 games, delivering yet another blow to the future of embattled Razorbacks coach Bret Bielema in the process. The former Wisconsin coach is now 29-33 overall in his fifth season at Arkansas, 11-28 in the SEC.

"It's horrible, it really, really is," Razorbacks quarterback Austin Allen said. "You want to go out there and win the game for (Bielema). That's what we wanted to do today. It didn't happen for us. We were right there. We didn't do enough."

The Razorbacks led by a touchdown in the fourth quarter, but Fitzgerald tied the game with a 37-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Todd with 4:07 remaining.

Arkansas coach Bret Bielema then went for it on a fourth-and-2 from the Razorbacks 44, and the Bulldogs held. Nine plays later, Thomas scored to give Mississippi State its fifth win in six games against Arkansas.

"We said the last night we were going to do everything we can to win this game," Bielema said. "We're going to do everything we can to keep swinging, keep fighting, and obviously that was an example of it."

David Williams led Arkansas with 75 yards rushing on eight carries, while Allen completed 11 of 17 passes for 119 yards.

THE TAKEAWAY

Mississippi State: The Bulldogs lost 31-24 a week ago to No. 1 Alabama, with the Crimson Tide scoring in the final minute for the victory. Mississippi State played as if it were still recovering from that setback. The Bulldogs lost three fumbles, including one on a botched punt return, after they had run four plays. Despite the early struggles, Fitzgerald accounted for 178 of his yards in the second half and Mullen refused to believe Mississippi State was suffering from an Alabama hangover. "I didn't drink since last Saturday night," Mullen joked. "I didn't have a hangover, I was fine. I don't think so. I think we had a great week of preparation."

Arkansas: The Razorbacks entered the game last in the SEC while allowing an average of 6.57 yards per play on defense, but they held the Bulldogs to only 130 yards in the first half that ended 14-14. Arkansas defensive end McTelvin Agim was at the forefront of the defense's stellar performance, finishing with nine tackles, 2 1/2 tackles for losses, including a sack and two forced fumbles.

KELLEY ON HAND

Arkansas backup quarterback Cole Kelley was in the crowd in Razorback Stadium on Saturday, a week after he was suspended following his arrest for suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Bielema said he expects the freshman, who started four games while Allen was injured, to rejoin the team on Sunday.

UP NEXT

Mississippi State hosts Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl on Thursday.

The Razorbacks close out the regular season by hosting Missouri on Friday.

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More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-Top25

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Follow Kurt Voigt on Twitter (at)Kurt-Voigt-AP

Passing

MissSt Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
N. Fitzgerald 23 12 52.2 2 153 37 0 102.3
Ark Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
A. Allen 18 12 66.7 0 124 24 0 86.3

Rushing

MissSt Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
N. Fitzgerald 22 101 4.6 25 1
A. Williams 19 71 3.7 11 1
Ark Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
D. Williams 8 75 9.4 13 1
D. Whaley 12 21 1.8 7 1

Receiving

MissSt Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
R. Todd 3 50 16.7 37 1
A. Williams 2 27 13.5 19 0
Ark Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
D. Stewart 2 39 19.5 24 0
J. Nance 1 22 22.0 22 0

Fumbles

MissSt F FL
N. Gibson 1 1
N. Fitzgerald 2 0
Ark F FL
A. Allen 1 1
D. Williams 1 0

Returning

MissSt KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
R. Todd 3 7.0 0 15 0 0 0
Ark KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
D. Warren 1 20.0 0 20 0 0 0
H. Johnson 1 7.0 0 7 0 0 0

Punting

MissSt Punt Yds Avg LgPu
L. Cooke 5 190 38.0 51
Ark Punt Yds Avg LgPu
B. Johnson 6 219 36.5 44

Takeaways

Ark Int Yds InTD
B. Guidry 0 0 0

Team Stats Comparison

MissSt Ark
Points For 28 21
Total Yards 348 221
Rushing Yards 195 97
Passing Yards 153 124
Passing Completions / Attempts 12/23 12/18
Turnovers 2 1
Interceptions Thrown 0 0
Fumbles - Lost 4/2 3/1
First Downs 19 12
Penalties - Yards 4/47 4/35
Time Of Possession 31:31 29:29
Third Down Conversions/Attempts 8/17 3/11
Fourth Down Conversions/Attempts 2/3 0/2
Punts - Average Yards 5/38 6/36

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter MissSt Ark
Ark 02:14 TD David Williams 3 yd run (Connor Limpert kick) 0 7
Ark 07:34 TD Briston Guidry 0 yd fumble return (Connor Limpert kick) 0 14
2nd Quarter MissSt Ark
MissSt 09:43 TD Nick Fitzgerald 18 yd run (Jace Christmann kick) 7 14
MissSt 12:42 TD Aeris Williams 8 yd run (Jace Christmann kick) 14 14
3rd Quarter MissSt Ark
Ark 10:25 TD Devwah Whaley 1 yd run (Connor Limpert kick) 14 21
4th Quarter MissSt Ark
MissSt 11:03 TD Reggie Todd 37 yd pass from Nick Fitzgerald (Jace Christmann kick) 21 21
MissSt 14:43 TD Deddrick Thomas 6 yd pass from Nick Fitzgerald (Jace Christmann kick) 28 21

Game Information

Stadium: Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville, Arkansas
Attendance: 64,153
Game Time:
Weather: