VIDEO: Full Recap Of Bulldogs First Win

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) — It was evident when Mississippi State walked on the field Saturday night that this was going to be a different Bulldog team that showed up for their second game of the year.

After last week’s debacle against South Alabama, Mississippi State came out and played with a renewed energy and enthusiasm on the field as the Bulldogs get win number one against an SEC opponent to kickoff the 2016 season.

“That looked like Mississippi State football from what we expect”, said head coach Dan Mullen.

“The effort, strain, intensity our guys played with in that first half. I think that there’s a lot of young players on the field and they’ve been a part of intensity, jumping up and down on the sidelines or like I said run down and cover a kick. To have that desperate intensity and have to play consecutive play after play, and bring it as a young guy they got to learn that.”

“Coach Mullen obviously addressed that after the game last week, and it paid off…”, said senior defensive lineman AJ Jefferson, “…we’re still no satisfied by the way we played in the second half but I like the way we’re moving.”

The surprise of the game was not Nick Fitzgerald starting, but it was his running ability as quarterback as the sophomore signal caller set a Mullen QB rushing record with 195 yards on the ground.

From here on out, Dan Mullen says this is Nick Fitzgerald’s team now.

“It’s been my dream since I was six, to be an SEC quarterback and win an SEC game, so I finally made my six year old self proud tonight”, said the sophomore quarterback Fitzgerald.

“The way we turned up the intensity to a whole new level. I don’t think you’ll ever see us like we were last week because we played Mississippi State football and we’re going to keep doing that.”

“I thought about what’s best for us right now moving forward as a team, to put us in position to win, and to just go with one guy I thought was whats best for us as a team”, Mullen said about making the decision to stick to Fitzgerald.

The intensity from Saturday night at Davis Wade will have to roll over to next weekend for Mississippi State as they pay a visit to Death Valley to see LSU.

Head Coach Dan Mullen said in the post game press conference that the win over the Gamecocks was a step in the right direction, but there’s still a long way to go and much more work to be done.