Ole Miss v. Mississippi State Egg Bowl Recap

Thursday, November 25th, was the 118th Egg Bowl in Starkville, Mississippi and boy was it a good one. Although it was extremely windy and rainy, that did not stop the Ole Miss Rebels from defeating the Mississippi State Bulldogs 31-21. 

“What a cool night. What a cool win. We’re happy and relieved,” Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin said. “It wasn’t easy. But our players found a way to win and that’s what matters. We’re at 10 wins and that sounds really cool.”

Matt Corral, currently on the Heisman watch list, ran for a touchdown and passed for 229 yards to help Ole Miss (10-2, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) overcome an early 6-3 deficit for a 24-6 early lead in the fourth quarter. Overall, Corral was 25 of 33 with an interception.

A few key players for the Rebels consisted of Snoop Connor who scored twice on 1-yard runs and rushed for 60 yards on 16 carries, Dontatio Drummond who had 13 receptions for 133 yards, and Jerrion Ealy who scored on a 15-yard run to take the lead 31-13 with 5:35 left in the fourth quarter. 

The Bulldogs had a total of 420 yards of total offense and consistently had trouble scoring throughout the game. Their quarterback, only a sophomore, Will Rogers was 38 of 58 for 336 yards and an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jaden Walley, but they could not beat out the Rebels defense.

“Let me say it right now. Ole Miss has a defense,” Corral said. “That’s something we couldn’t say in the past. But they’ve carried us during these last five weeks, made some breaks and they showed that this is a team thing.”

Ole Miss, once again, proved that they still run the Sip and the Golden Egg has returned to Oxford for another year. The Rebels won a school-record 10 regular-season games and ended up in second place for the race of the SEC West. They are likely to appear in A New Year’s Six bowl game, alongside a Top 10 Ranking.