If you missed it on Saturday, Nick Fitzgerald set the all-time career rushing mark for a quarterback in the history of the Southeastern Conference by passing former Florida Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow. Tebow previous held the mark by rushing for 2,947 yards for the Gators from 2006-09.

Following his monster rushing performance against Auburn, Fitzgerald rushed for 195 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries, Mississippi State’s quarterback has 2,999 rushing yards (and counting) for his career. That’s now a mark all SEC quarterbacks will have to aspire to surpass if they plan on setting the new SEC mark.

After the Auburn game, the Hail State QB was asked to share his comments on his incredible individual career achievement. While he can appreciate all the work and effort that he individually put in to set the new record, Fitzgerald was quick to credit his teammates for helping him set the new standard for rushing from the quarterback position in the SEC.

“It’s huge. It’s huge. It kinda goes back to being a little seven-year-old boy in Richmond Hill, Georgia, just starting out playing football,” Fitzgerald said. “Who would have known that that little boy would have turned into this?

“All the opportunity and success is a blessing. It feels amazing to know all the hard work that you’ve put in, you’ll be remembered. That was huge. Other than that, I wouldn’t have gotten it without my teammates. It’s an achievement for me but it’s a huge compliment to them. It’s a huge compliment to how hard they play for me and how well they do. Specifically, my five up front, blocking and opening holes for us.”

So how does Fitzgerald continue to rack up so many rushing yards, considering outstanding defenses like Auburn’s have to know what’s coming?

“You make the right reads,” Fitzgerald explained. “The offense is designed to put one player in conflict, he can take the running back or he can take me and my job is to make him wrong. Obviously I’m not perfect at it, there’s plenty of times I made the wrong read but it just comes down to making him wrong and if you are wrong, out-athlete somebody and get it back to the line of scrimmage or get a few yards.”

It’s safe to assume Fitzgerald has been right far more often than he has been wrong when making those decisions in his playing career. In fact, if Joe Moorhead’s offense begins to click following the performance against Auburn, Fitzgerald may set the mark so high that no SEC quarterback ever surpasses the number he finishes with when his career in Starkville comes to an end.