STARKVILLE — Nick Fitzgerald’s two first-half rushing touchdowns put BYU behind in the first half and Brandon Bryant’s fourth-quarter interception put any comeback bid to bed as Mississippi State (4-2) beat the Cougars (1-6) 35-10 Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium.

Fitzgerald set a new season high with 15 carries, going for 103 yards. His running and the efforts of Aeris Williams — 23 carries for 114 yards and a touchdown — opened the throwing lanes for what may have been Fitzgerald’s best passing performance of the season. His 19 completions for 241 yards were both season highs on 30 attempts; he was generally on target throughout the game as several drops drove his completion percentage down to 63.3 percent, still only a few percentage points short of his standout performance against LSU.

A Bulldog defense that was dominant throughout, holding the Cougars to 176 yards of total offense, hit a rough patch in the third quarter when BYU capitalized on busted coverage for a 27-yard touchdown.

Bryant turned all of that with his interception on the goal line on the third play of the fourth quarter. A touchdown would have brought BYU within 11 points of MSU; the interception, instead, kicked off a 12-play touchdown drive that put away the game with both the score and the 6 minutes, 35 seconds taken off the clock.

The touchdown pass was one of few bright moments for the BYU passing attack. Quarterback Tanner Mangum averaged 5.5 yards per attempt as MSU kept the Cougars’ screen-based playcalling in check most of the time.

More coverage coming on cdispatch.com, including video and a column from Slim Smith, later Saturday night.