STARKVILLE – There is no question who will be the starting quarterback for Mississippi State this season.
Senior Dak Prescott is one of the best signal callers in college football and he is coming off a monster junior campaign that saw him break 12 single-season school records and finish eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting.
The biggest concern at the quarterback position for the Bulldogs is the backup. MSU has four quarterbacks behind Prescott, but only one has gotten game reps. That is Damian Williams, but he may not be the backup this season. That job could go to redshirt freshman Nick Fitzgerald.
“Going into camp, I kind of look at myself that way,” Fitzgerald said. “I have to be able to play if Dak goes down.”
Along with Fitzgerald and Williams, the Bulldogs have redshirt freshman Elijah Staley and freshman Nick Tiano at quarterback. Staley said he has talked to basketball coach Ben Howland and basketball might be an option for him this season when football ends.
MSU coach Dan Mullen said last week that there is 50-50 chance that Williams is redshirted this season. He played as a freshman and sophomore, but missed most of spring drills this year with a torn pectoral muscle.
That opened the door for Fitzgerald to get a lot of reps and he ran with the second string.
“I definitely had more reps than anyone this spring,” Fitzgerald said. “With more reps, you’re better at it. I was able to improve so much over the spring, mainly just because of those reps. I just built up my confidence more than anything I think.”
Fitzgerald has been on the MSU campus since December of 2013. He went through bowl practices with the Bulldogs that winter, and he participated in spring camp the following year. Fitzgerald has been through two spring camps and is in his second fall camp with the Bulldogs.
That experience has set him apart from some of the other quarterbacks behind Prescott.
“I think it’s certainly helped him compete,” Mullen said. “He got three or four practices that first bowl prep, but that was a good adjustment for him. I bet you he couldn’t even tell you what he did or what plays he ran in any of those practices, but that allowed him to get prepared to go through spring football last year and get ready for a season.
“I’m excited to get him into a game to get that game experience because he certainly has practice experience.”
Like most freshman, the jump from high school to college ball was daunting for Fitzgerald. He was trying to feel his way through his first year on campus, but he said all the practice reps he has taken has gotten him to a comfortable point.
“Now, I really have a good grasp of the offense and really have a good chemistry with my teammates,” Fitzgerald said. “That was something I was still trying to work on, just coming into the spring as a freshman and my first camp was pretty rough. I still didn’t really know that much and now it’s vastly improved.”
Now that he has the offense down and chemistry with his teammates, Fitzgearld said it’s the little things that he is trying to work on.
“More just timing,” he said. “If you know what they’re going to run, now it’s just more being able to get the ball to them. Make sure your passes are right where they need to be.”
Fitzgerald was a four-year letterwinner at Richmond Hill High School in Richmond Hill, Georgia, but the Wildcats ran an option style offense. He didn’t get to pass the ball a whole lot, so his passing mechanics were underdeveloped when he got to campus.
Quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson has seen him take big leaps with his mechanics.
“It’s just been constant mechanic work and he’s done a nice job in taking all the necessary steps to move forward and become a better player,” Johnson said.
Even so, some of the wide receivers are blown away with the strength Fitzgerald posses when he lets the ball fly. Junior college transfer Donald Gray wasn’t expecting a hard thrown ball the first time he caught a Fitzgerald pass.
“It looks like it will be kind of a softball, but once it hits you, it snaps your hands back,” Gray said. “If you’re hands aren’t wide open, he’ll probably jam a couple of your fingers. You have to really watch his ball and open your hands all the way.”
Fitzgerald got to see first-hand the rise Prescott made last year. Johnson said it was good for all his quarterbacks to see the level of play Prescott brought to the gridiron every Saturday.
Fitzgerald continues keeps a close eye on Prescott.
“Everything he does can be a lesson you can learn,” Fitzgerald said. “How he carries himself in interviews, how he carries himself on the field, off the field, in public.”
Fitzgerald hasn’t gotten game reps since the fall of 2013 when he was a senior in high school. Prescott will take many of the snaps this season, but there will be a couple of games where Fitzgerald will more than likely find the field.
He’s ready to go.
“I’m just excited to get out there with my teammates and actually play. That’s kind of something I use to kind of motivate myself during practice,” he said.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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