The Mississippi State Bulldogs bounced back from a tough loss suffered last week in Baton Rouge by coming up with a big second half to take down the No. 16 Texas A&M Aggies in Starkville, winning 28-13 on Saturday night.

It was practically a tale of two entirely different offenses between what we saw last week and this week, and a big reason was the play of embattled senior quarterback Nick Fitzgerald, who came through with arguably his best game of the season.

Here are five things I liked from the Bulldogs’ performance, along with three things I didn’t like.

What I liked

5. Winning on third down: On offense, the Bulldogs were 7 of 12 on third downs (58 percent), and they did a nice job of converting to sustain drives. Defensively, they held the Aggies to just 4 of 14 (28 percent), which is damn fine. There should be little doubt that third down success played a big role in State outscoring A&M 21-3 in the second half, as the Bulldogs defense was able to stay fresh and the Aggies defense started noticeably wearing down.

4. Shutting down Aggies’ big-play weapons: The Aggies’ two most dangerous offensive threats, running back Trayveon Williams and tight end Jace Sternberger, really struggled to make much of an impact as the Bulldogs defense consistently keyed on them to mitigate their effectiveness. Williams, who entered the game as the second leading rusher in the SEC with 798 yards (averaging 5.7 yards per carry) wound up rushing for just 26 on 10 carries. Sternberger has been the most reliable receiving threat in the Aggies’ passing game, leading the team in receptions (29), receiving yards (496) and receiving TDs (6), but the Bulldogs defense shut him down to the tune of just 2 receptions for 13 yards.

3. Receivers come up big: The Bulldogs receiving corps has faced a lot of scrutiny this year due to their struggles with drops and consistently getting open, but they came up big against the Aggies’ overmatched secondary. Stephen Guidry enjoyed a career night and had more receiving yards on just 3 catches (130) than he’d had the previous four weeks combined (115). Osirus Mitchell was also very productive as he wound up with 96 yards on 6 receptions, hauling in his first TD grab since the Week 1 win over Stephen F. Austin.

2. Fitzgerald comes up big: The embattled Fitzgerald faced countless calls for his job all week long (from myself included) after four consecutive weeks of enormous struggles passing downfield. In that span, the Bulldogs were 1-3 as Fitzgerald completed 44 percent of his passes for 371 yards with 0 TDs and 6 INTs. Give Fitzgerald credit, though – he fought through the deluge of negative headlines and a frustrated fan base to put forth arguably his best game of the season, completing 14 of 22 attempts (63 percent) with 2 TDs and no INTs while also leading the team in rushing (again), racking up 88 yards and another 2 TDs on 16 carries. He looked confident and poised in the pocket, showed improved lower body mechanics and did a much better job going through his progressions to find the open man. It’s crazy to think where this team would be right now if he had played all season like he did Saturday night (hint – they’d be undefeated right now).

Credit: Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports

1. Joe Moorhead sticking to his guns: As I just mentioned, the calls were coming from all angles to bench Fitzgerald. Considering how poorly he was playing, it was understandable and entirely justifiable. The easy thing for Moorhead to do would have been to put him on the bench and turn to Keytaon Thompson, which would have assuaged the fan base and calmed down the administration and boosters. Moorhead stuck to his guns, though, and showed conviction and faith in Fitzgerald to turn things around, and he was rewarded with his senior QB playing a hell of a game. That shows you a lot about what kind of coach he is, and a public show of faith from a head coach like that is never lost on players (or recruits).

What I didn’t like

3. Running backs silent: Kylin Hill didn’t suit up due to a lower leg injury, but once again the Bulldogs failed to get any of their tailbacks into much of a rhythm. Saturday night marked the fourth time in the last five games a Bulldogs tailback failed to surpass 42 rushing yards (Aeris Williams led the tailbacks against A&M with 9 rushes for 35 yards). This is very surprising considering both the talent and depth at the position and how effective the line has been drive blocking.

2. Offensive line: Ultimately, the line really didn’t play that poorly, though they did allow 2 costly sacks and many more pressures and struggled with their share of penalties. Both tackles, Greg Eiland and Stewart Reese, continued to allow pressure off the edges, often forcing Fitzgerald to try to throw outside the pocket, where his already shaky accuracy plummets even further. The interior was solid, though they continue to get targeted for questionable holding calls.

1. Penalties, penalties, penalties: Penalties have plagued this team all year, and Saturday night marked the third time in eight games that the Bulldogs accumulated 10 or more. Against A&M, the Bulldogs racked up 10 penalties, costing them 95 yards. Some were questionable at best (some holding calls, one pass interference call), but others were flagrant and came at a horrible time (cough, cough – Leo Lewis). Fortunately for Mississippi State, the exorbitant number of penalties didn’t affect the outcome of the game, but it’s an area they need to continue to improve upon.