Nick Fitzgerald suspension: Joe Moorhead announces Mississippi State QB out for Week 1
By Andrew Olson
Published:
The players who represent the team at Media Days aren’t usually the ones fans worry about losing for the start of the season. But Mississippi State coach Joe Moorhead had a surprise announcement at his Monday press conference when he revealed QB Nick Fitzgerald is suspended for the team’s season opener after violating team rules.
The Bulldogs open the 2018 campaign by hosting Stephen F. Austin on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET in a game on ESPNU. The game is not expected to be close as there is no betting line listed at the major sportsbooks. MSU will probably still cruise to victory with Keytaon Thompson as the signal-caller.
For fans, the biggest disappoint is likely in having to wait another week to see what the Moorhead offense will look like when operated by the star quarterback. Moorhead’s high-powered offense is widely credited with making Penn State a force in the Big Ten under James Franklin. Upon arriving at MSU, Moorhead told Fitzgerald he wanted to win the quarterback a Heisman Trophy.
Entering his senior season, Fitzgerald has already thrown for 4,440 yards and 39 touchdowns in his Bulldog career. An off-the-radar recruit in 2015, Fitzgerald has developed into one of the SEC’s elite quarterbacks after three seasons at MSU. He was named second-team preseason All-SEC at Media Days in July in Atlanta. In 2017, he was named a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. The Bulldogs went 8-4 last season in games started by Fitzgerald.
Bulldogs fans are plenty familiar with Thompson, Fitzgerald’s back-up, thanks to last year’s Egg Bowl. After Fitzgerald suffered a broken ankle, Thompson stepped in and went 13-of-27 passing for 195 yards, a touchdown and an interception while rushing for 121 yards a touchdown on 26 carries in the loss to rival Ole Miss. Thompson led the team to a Gator Bowl victory over Louisville to cap off 2017, carrying the ball 27 times for 147 yards and three touchdowns while throwing for 127 yards on 11-of-20 passing.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.