STARKVILLE — A year ago, Joe Moorhead watched the Mississippi State and Ole Miss football teams in the Battle for the Golden Egg from his home in State College, Pennsylvania, but he didn’t see the injury that changed the game.
That day was his son Mason’s birthday, so he went to Target to buy him an Apple Watch. The Black Friday crowds kept him from getting back until the second half, well after Nick Fitzgerald suffered a broken ankle.
At 6:30 p.m. Thursday (ESPN), Moorhead will experience the rivalry that created that injury.
Moorhead has heard a lot about the rivalry in his first year as MSU’s head coach. Fitzgerald is also hearing a lot about it, but he doesn’t want to delve into the memories.
“That’s one of those things in sports. It happens,” Fitzgerald said. “For a long time, I don’t think it’s been particularly on purpose, but from what I’ve seen through the season I’m probably going to have both ankles spatted, just to be sure.
“It’s an injury. We play football. People get hurt every day. People get hurt walking the street, step off a curb and hurt your ankle. It’s not something we have to hype up. It’s football. It’s violent. It is what it is.”
The meaning of the game to No. 22 MSU (7-4, 3-4 Southeastern Conference) has been made clear to Moorhead. He remembers getting off the plane, greetings fans, and hearing about the importance of the game that has earned the nickname “Egg Bowl.” MSU President Mark E. Keenum reiterated the point in a meeting after Moorhead’s introductory news conference.
Moorhead believes the game generates its own energy, so he doesn’t have to fan the flame.
“They’re going to be fired up. That kind of stands on its own merit. They don’t need inflammatory rhetoric from me to get fired up,” Moorhead said. “That’s going to last for a series or a half of a quarter. Then ultimately you’re going to fall back on your preparation and your habits.
“Whether or not I give a pre-game Knute Rockne fire them up speech and put my fist through a whiteboard, they’ll get fired up for a second until they get on the bus and then you’ll have to fall back on your habits.”
Accelerated timeline
The SEC has a strong history of playing on Thanksgiving Day. The move means two of its member schools having a short week before a rivalry game.
The Big Ten Conference doesn’t have such agreements, so Moorhead, who served as Penn State’s offensive coordinator before taking over as head coach at MSU, didn’t have to work on a short week in his time there, but he has done plenty of it in the past.
“I was in the MAC (Mid-American Conference) for four years,” Moorhead said, referring to the league that often plays weekday games.
Moorhead coached two games on a short week in his four years as Fordham’s head coach and won them both (in 2014 against Lafayette and Bucknell).
New commit
A day after MSU secured a commitment from a running back for its Class of 2019, it secured a commitment from the third wide receiver in the same class.
Northwest Mississippi Community College’s JaVonta Payton committed to MSU on Monday. The four-star prospect is ranked as the third-best junior college wide receiver in the nation, according to 247 Sports.
The 6-foot-2, 180-pounder from Nashville, Tennessee, had 23 catches for 331 yards and two touchdowns for the Rangers this season.
As a freshman, he had had 44 receptions for 509 yards and nine touchdowns. He had offers from multiple schools coming out of Hillsboro (Tenn.) High School, including Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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