STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen had a smile on his face.
As he entered his postgame press conference, the eighth-year Bulldog coached seemed to be in a good mood. And why not? His team just pulled out a victory, in which they set the single-game offensive record with 669 yards.
Wins have been scarce for MSU this season and Mullen wants his young, injury-riddled team to celebrate every win, no matter who it is against. That was his attitude after MSU beat Football Championship Series member Samford 56-41 Saturday afternoon at Davis Wade Stadium.
“It’s great to get a win,” Mullen said. “I know our guys are fired up. They were fired up downstairs. I don’t know any team in the country that’s appreciating a win more than our guys of what we’ve been through to lose three games on the final play of the game.
“We made some plays at the end of the game to win and our guys were juiced up, fired up and loving it. I’m really happy for our guys.”
The win snapped a three-game losing streak. The last win for MSU was a 47-35 victory against UMass Sept. 24 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts.
After the win, Mullen said his players weren’t celebrating and it didn’t seem like they were happy. MSU trailed 14-13 at halftime and needed a strong second half to hold off UMass.
Against Samford, sophomore quarterback Nick Fitzgerald was 20 of 35 for 417 yards and five touchdowns. He had a game-high 119 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
“I know we had to fight the entire game and it finally went our way, so it feels awesome,” he said.
MSU is 3-5 overall and 1-3 in the Southeastern Conference, the lone win coming against South Carolina at home.
MSU’s last four games are against SEC Western Division teams. MSU plays host to No. 7 Texas A&M 11 a.m. Saturday (SEC Network). MSU then travels to No. 1 Alabama Nov. 12, play host to Arkansas Nov. 19 and play at in-state rival Ole Miss Nov. 26 in the Battle for the Golden Egg.
MSU needs to win three of the final four games to become bowl eligible for the seventh straight season. If not, MSU will miss a bowl game for the first time since 2009, Mullen’s first season.
“We know we’re about to play the best of the west,” senior linebacker DeAndre Ward said. “That’s what we call them.”
Mullen is 1-3 against Texas A&M, 0-7 against Alabama, 5-3 against Arkansas and 4-3 against Ole Miss. Mullen and the Bulldogs have lost the last two to the Rebels.
“I don’t know of anybody that has a tougher stretch in college football this season,” Mullen said. “But we’ll see. That’s what’s fun.
“That’s what playing in the SEC is all about, a challenge of going and playing great teams every week.”
After back-to-back nine-win seasons and a No. 1 ranking for five straight weeks in 2014, wins aren’t coming as easy for this MSU team. With a young team, he wants them to cherish the wins they do get.
“It is hard to win football games, right? Ask 50 percent of the people that played (Saturday) how hard it is to win,” Mullen said. “If you can’t enjoy winning, that’s an awful lot of work to not even enjoy a game is not a way to be.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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