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Mississippi State Spring Football Game 2017: 5 things to watch for

By Nicholas Ian Allen

Nov 26, 2016; Oxford, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs players celebrate with the Egg Bowl trophy after the game against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mississippi State won 55-20 Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 26, 2016; Oxford, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs players celebrate with the Egg Bowl trophy after the game against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mississippi State won 55-20 Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mississippi State Bulldogs
Sep 10, 2016; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Nick Fitzgerald (7) runs the ball during the first quarter of the game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Davis Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports /

Quarterback Nick Fitzgerald

Three of the biggest names at the quarterback position in the SEC, Chad Kelly, Joshua Dobbs, and Trevor Knight, have graduated. That leaves top passers Austin Allen from Arkansas and Drew Lock at Missouri, plus super sophomores Jalen Hurts, Jacob Eason, Jake Bentley and Jarrett Stidham among the most talented signal callers in the conference.

However, Nick Fitzgerald has the skill set to be better than all of them in 2017. In fact, last season as a sophomore, he was easily the best rushing QB in the conference. Fitzgerald led the SEC with 16 rushing touchdowns, an amazing fact given he didn’t find the end zone at all during the first five games of the year and fell just 12 yards shy of the rushing title despite being held to 15 or fewer yards three times. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound Georgia native gained 1,375 rushing yards on 195 carries, good for a staggering 7.1 yards per carry taking into account he was sacked 14 times.

However, Fitzgerald has some work to do as a passer. He ranked eighth in the SEC with 2,423 passing yards, finished ninth in yards per attempt (6.7) and ranked 11th in the conference in completion percentage (54.3 percent). Fitzgerald didn’t hit better than 50 percent in three of his last four games, and he also tossed 10 interceptions, which made him the only SEC quarterback to hit double digits in picks in fewer than 200 pass attempts. Fitzgerald’s 2.8 percent interception rate was the fifth worst in the league for QBs with at least 90 pass attempts.

Nevertheless, Fitzgerald enters 2017 as one of the most dynamic playmakers in the SEC and is a surefire All-SEC candidate.

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