Two weeks before the season began, Mississippi State junior quarterback Nick Fitzgerald was asked what the defense looked like under new coordinator Todd Grantham. The starting QB is off-limits to contact, so this type of collision isn’t allowed in practice, but his visible reaction was as if he had just been hit by a truck. A truck wearing shoulder pads, cleats and a maroon practice jersey, anyway.
Fitzgerald was very blunt with reporters when asked what it’s like to face that defense in practice every day.
“It sucks,” he deadpanned. “I hate it.”
He was laughing when he said it because, of course, it’s his teammates doing the work, and he wants them to do well.