It was an astonishing moment when Texas A&M was introduced as the No. 4 team in the country in the initial College Football Playoff rankings.

The Aggies can look for themselves lower in the rankings this Tuesday.

Texas A&M had no answer for how to deal with Mississippi State sophomore quarterback Nick Fitzgerald, who accounted for four touchdowns and had 391 yards of total offense to lead the Bulldogs to a stunning 35-28 upset of the Aggies on Saturday in a Southeastern Conference game at Starkville, Miss.

Fitzgerald passed for 209 yards and two touchdowns, and added 182 yards and two scores on the ground.

Senior receiver Fred Ross caught six passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns for the Bulldogs (4-5, 2-3 in the SEC), who outgained the Aggies 574-382 and then engaged in a raucous locker-room celebration.

"It was amazing," Ross said. "Guys were jumping up and down and throwing Gatorade. It was as wild scene. I enjoyed it. That's the reason you come to Mississippi State, for moments like that."

Texas A&M (7-2, 4-2) certainly didn't enjoy its visit and senior quarterback Trevor Knight departed in the second quarter because of a right shoulder injury.

Aggies coach Kevin Sumlin said Knight will undergo further evaluation.

Ailing even more was the play of Sumlin's team and the coach repeatedly shot down suggestions that the team suffered from a lack of focus and perhaps got a bit full of itself after its higher-than-expected ranking.

"I don't see the lack of energy; I think there were some busts," Sumlin said. "Their quarterback played extremely well today. He ran it but he also was extremely accurate when he threw it and made some plays into tight coverage.

"A lack of energy would have shown up in a worse score. ... It's more of a lack of execution."

Texas A&M junior quarterback Jake Hubenak replaced Knight and completed 11 of 17 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore receiver Christian Kirk returned a punt 93 yards for a touchdown and caught seven passes for 144 yards and one touchdown.

The Aggies were powerless to stop Mississippi State's ground assault. The Bulldogs finished with a season-best 365 rushing yards, with Fitzgerald and sophomore running back Aeris Williams (career-high 140 yards, one touchdown) each having big days.

"It came down to Mississippi State doing a lot better job of running the ball," Sumlin said. "We couldn't stop the run today and we couldn't run it. They dictated play today."

Most of that was due to the play of Fitzgerald, who has topped 100 rushing yards in three consecutive games.

"Obviously, the season has had its ups and downs," Fitzgerald said. "To go up against a big-time team like this and pull out a win is phenomenal. It's a season changer I hope."

Texas A&M recovered from a 21-point second-quarter deficit to move within seven in the fourth quarter, but Mississippi State answered with a punishing 14-play, 73-yard drive that took 7:26 off the clock.

Fitzgerald punctuated the drive by bulling his way into the end zone on a 4-yard keeper to make it 35-21 with 3:08 remaining.

The Aggies answered on Hubenak's 4-yard scoring pass to senior wideout Josh Reynolds with 1:33 left. The ensuing onside kick was recovered by Mississippi State junior receiver Donald Gray.

Texas A&M got the ball back one more time and Bulldogs sophomore safety Mark McLaurin sealed the upset on an interception with 14 seconds to play.

"The attitude of our kids," Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said for the reason for the upset win. "Everybody is doubting them and what goes on. We came out and had our best week of practice.

"Everybody is talking about every issue we have and every problem we have and scrutinizing us but they came out and they played as hard as they could in all three phrases. Not perfect but we played with unbelievable effort and strength."

While the Bulldogs were proud of their upset victory, Kirk said it is part of the territory when you play in arguably the toughest division of the toughest conference in the nation.

"This is the SEC West; this can happen at any point," Kirk said. "That's why there can't be a lack of focus, can't be a lack of energy and can't be a lack of preparation throughout that the week

"You have to all give the credit to Mississippi State. They came out, they were fired up, it was a big-time game for them. They did everything right that they were supposed to do and we couldn't match it."

The Aggies played the second half without Knight, who aggravated his right shoulder injury on at least two occasions during the first half.

On the second time, Knight landed on his right arm while being tackled out-of-bounds late in the second quarter. He changed into street clothes at halftime and was sporting a sling on his right arm in the second half.

Hubenak replaced Knight and finally got the Aggies into the end zone when he teamed with Kirk on a 54-yard scoring pass to cut Mississippi State's lead to 28-21 with 10:42 remaining.

Kirk's electrifying punt return prevented the Aggies from trailing by 21 points at the half. He fielded the punt at the 7-yard line and immediately avoided two tackles while veering to the right. He darted up the terrain and soon found a large gap and kicked it into a higher gear to easily sprint down the sideline for the 93-yard score to pull Texas A&M to within 28-14 with 19 seconds left in the half.

That play was one of the few downers for Mississippi State, which had a 372-146 edge in total yards over the first 30 minutes.

The Bulldogs' first offense play of the game went for a touchdown as Fitzgerald ran a keeper to the left and navigated his way into the clear for a 74-yard scoring run only 2:42 into the contest.

Mississippi State increased its lead to 14-0 when Williams scored on a 2-yard run with 4:36 left in the opening quarter. The Aggies answered with an 11-play, 75-yard drive on which Knight scored on a 19-yard keeper with three seconds left in the quarter.

Knight landed on the right shoulder while diving for the end zone on the scoring play as well. He was treated on the sidelined and returned in the second quarter.

The Bulldogs scored on the first play of a drive for the second time when Fitzgerald tossed a 60-yard pass to Ross with 10:53 left in the first half. Fitzgerald hit Ross on a 7-yard scoring pass with 3:54 left to make it 28-7.

NOTES: Texas A&M sophomore WR Christian Kirk has returned three punts for touchdowns in the last two games and holds the school record of five. ... Mississippi State senior WR Fred Ross had 98 receiving yards to move into second place in school history with 2,252. He needs 19 yards to supplant school leader Chad Bumphis (2,270 from 2009-12). ... Aggies junior DE Myles Garrett (ankle) left in the third quarter after aggravating his injury. ... Bulldogs QB Nick Fitzgerald has accounted for 17 touchdowns over the past four games. ... Texas A&M RB Trayveon Williams had only 28 rushing yards, well below his average of 97 entering the game. Williams (804) is vying to become the fourth true freshman in Aggies history to rush for 1,000 yards.