Miss. St. QB Nick Fitzgerald suffers gruesome ankle injury in loss to Ole Miss

— -- Mississippi State?quarterback Nick Fitzgerald was carted off the field in the first quarter of Thursday night's 31-28 loss to? Ole Miss with what coach Dan Mullen later called a dislocated ankle.?

The 6-foot-5, 230-pound Fitzgerald was running the ball when he was tackled, and his leg bent awkwardly. Athletic trainers immediately ran onto the field and tended to the QB for several minutes as players on both teams took a knee in Starkville.

Fitzgerald had the leg put in an air cast before being carted away. He urged his team along from the cart even as he left the field and was watching the game from the Bulldogs sideline in the second half.?

Fitzgerald tweeted:?

Mississippi State athletic officials called it an ankle injury during the game. While meeting with reporters after the loss, Mullen said Fitzgerald dislocated his ankle but did not have any details beyond that.?

Keytaon Thompson replaced Fitzgerald for the No. 14 Bulldogs, who were trailing 7-0 at the time of the injury. The freshman finished?13-of-27 passing for 195 yards, with one TD and one pick. He also ran for 121 yards and a score.

Fitzgerald came into the game leading the SEC in rushing yards by a quarterback, with 968 yards on the ground in 11 games. He has thrown for 1,770 yards, 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Fitzgerald entered the game 230 passing yards and 32 rushing yards away from becoming the first player in SEC history with multiple seasons of 2,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards, according to ESPN Stats & Information.?

Last year in the Egg Bowl, he ran for a school-record 258 yards and two touchdowns and also threw for three TDs.?

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.