WATCH: Nick Fitzgerald discusses returning to home state of Georgia for Saturday’s game
By Adam Spencer
Published:
Nick Fitzgerald wasn’t on too many radars coming out of Richmond Hill High School in Georgia back in 2014.
In fact, the 3-star dual-threat quarterback only had one offer — Middle Tennessee — before coach Dan Mullen and the Mississippi State Bulldogs stepped in with an offer of their own.
Now, Fitzgerald is one of the league’s brightest stars, really living up to his “dual-threat” billing for the 3-0 Bulldogs.
This week, though, he faces a big test against Georgia, a school that had him right under its nose but missed out on him (like almost every other school in the country, too, to be fair).
On Wednesday, Fitzgerald said he’s not focusing on his homecoming of sorts this weekend, and is instead worried about picking up a big SEC win against Mississippi State’s undefeated opponent (starting at the 1:09 mark):
“It’s just another game,” he says with a smile. “It’s just an opponent we have to beat. Maybe I’ll have some extra friends and family there. I probably haven’t played in front of these people since high school, but I mean, it’s just another team we gotta go face and gotta go beat.”
Fitzgerald even said he understands why he didn’t receive too many looks from big-name programs coming out of high school, as he didn’t start at quarterback until he was a senior:
“I don’t really have a chip on my shoulder about anything like that,” he said. “The reasons why people weren’t looking at me — I know it’s hard to take a chance on a guy who hasn’t started at quarterback until senior year. Mississippi State did and I’m glad I’m here. It couldn’t have worked out better for me.”
If Fitzgerald and his Bulldogs can take down Georgia on Saturday night, the junior quarterback’s meteoric rise will continue.
Check out the battle of the Bulldogs on Saturday night at 7 p.m. Eastern time on ESPN.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
