– Mississippi State returns to Davis Wade Stadium for the first of three straight home games as the Bulldogs step out of Southeastern Conference play to host Troy at 3 p.m. Connecticut Saturday.
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Winning for the third time in the last four series matchups, Mississippi State got another outstanding performance from Prescott, who began the night with a pair of games against Auburn in which he passed for 200 yards and ran for 100.
Mississippi State’s defense clamped down Saturday as the Bulldogs beat Troy 45-17.
The Bulldogs got on the board just 36 seconds into the game as Fred Ross took a screen pass 59 yards for a touchdown.
The offenses were stagnant for the remainder of the first quarter, but the special teams unit for the Bulldogs was not.
Mississippi State’s defense held Troy to 31 total yards in the first half.
Fitzgerald, a redshirt freshman with limited snaps prior, was 6 of 7 for 141 yards passing and two touchdowns.
Troy (1-4) dominated the time of possession (40:25) in the game, but managed only two trips to the red zone against Mississippi State’s physical, bend-but-don’t-break defensive scheme. On the second play from scrimmage, Prescott found Ross for a 65-yard touchdown catch.
Statistically, Prescott isn’t as good as he was a season ago, but that could be because of the team around him.
Troy was simply overmatched on this day in Starkville, falling behind 21-0 after one quarter and 38-0 at the half.
The Trojans are under the direction of first-year head coach Neal Brown. The Trojans received a solid effort on the ground from Brandon Burks with 86 yards on 15 touches and a TD but Pruitt struggled to gain 56 yards on 18 carries.
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After Troy botched a 51-yard field goal attempt early in the fourth quarter, Fitzgerald connected with Donald Gray for a 49-yard touchdown to re-extend the MSU lead. The SEC’s third-leading passer, Dak Prescott (1,353 yards, 8 TDs), will be featured in this game. Troy couldn’t score again until the final minute of the game when Jed Solomon hit 21-yard field goal.
