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15 Reasons To Be Excited For The 2018 Mississippi State Football Season

By Ethan Lee

STARKVILLE, MS - OCTOBER 21: Garrett Johnson #9 of the Kentucky Wildcats catches a pass as Maurice Smitherman #31 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs tackles him during the first half of a NCAA football game at Davis Wade Stadium on October 21, 2017 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Butch Dill/Getty Images)
STARKVILLE, MS - OCTOBER 21: Garrett Johnson #9 of the Kentucky Wildcats catches a pass as Maurice Smitherman #31 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs tackles him during the first half of a NCAA football game at Davis Wade Stadium on October 21, 2017 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Butch Dill/Getty Images) /
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OXFORD, MS – NOVEMBER 26: Nick Fitzgerald #7 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs drops back to pass in the first half of a game against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on November 26, 2016 in Oxford, Mississippi. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
OXFORD, MS – NOVEMBER 26: Nick Fitzgerald #7 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs drops back to pass in the first half of a game against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on November 26, 2016 in Oxford, Mississippi. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /

Nick Fitzgerald Should Be Notably Improved Through The Air This Year

Passing hasn’t always been a strong-suit for Mississippi State football’s Nick Fitzgerald. Given that Fitz has only played quarterback for a few years, that’s not totally unexpected. However, many Mississippi State fans were expecting Fitzgerald to be a much improved passer coming out of the 2016 season and going into 2017.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case last year.

Nick Fitzgerald broke onto the scene in 2016, throwing for 2423 yards with 21 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while completing 54.3 percent of his passes. That’s pretty good for a first year starter. That’s really good when one considers how well he ran the ball to go along with that.

But, his passing stats regressed heading into 2017.

In an injury shortened season, Fitz threw for 1782 yards with 15 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while completing 55.6 percent of his passes. That’s not a notable improvement from one season to another.

But, with a new quarterback guru in town, Fitzgerald has a great opportunity to notably improve heading into this next season. Joe Moorhead is known for his offensive schemes and ability to make quarterbacks thrive. He’s done it at every coaching stop that has brought him to this point. He can do it again with Nick Fitzgerald.

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