No. 9 Ole Miss football comes out on top in the Egg Bowl, again, 31-21

Ole Miss is keeping the Golden Egg Bowl trophy in Oxford for the second straight year following a road upset of Mississippi State in Starkville. With this win, the Rebels earned their 10th win of the season for the first time in program history.

The Landshark defense were extremely dominant again, holding the Bulldog “air raid” offense to only 21 points. Chance Campbell led the team in tackles with 12, and Jake Springer was not far behind with 10. Big time games call for big time plays, and Sam Williams answered that call. Williams came up huge with two sacks in the game, and helped force Mississippi State to finish 4-for-14 on third downs. When it mattered most, the defense got the stops.

Offensively, things weren’t perfect but they got the job done. Matt Corral threw for 234 yards and accounted for two touchdowns on the night. Jerrion Ealy had 103 total yards of offense with a touchdown and Snoop Conner added 49 yards of his own with two more touchdowns for the Rebs. Dontario Drummond tied the school record for most catches in a game with 14, in a team-leading 138 receiving yards.

Mississippi State got on the board first after making a 34-yard field goal early in the first quarter. On the next drive, the Rebs answered with a field goal of their own to make it a tie game.

The Bulldogs seemed to be marching down the field on the next drive, converting two third-downs. The were stopped by the defense on the seven-yard line and had to settle for another field goal to make it 6-3 in the first quarter. They wouldn’t score again until late into the fourth quarter.

After another abysmal offensive attack early, the Bulldogs took possession yet again but missed a 40-yarder to shift the momentum Ole Miss’ way. The Rebels seized the opportunity and final found the back of the end zone to make it 10-6 with 2:21 remaining in the half.

State got the ball back, finding themselves in the end zone right before half. Multiple drops in the end zone meant that the kicker would be out to redeem himself before the break. However, he did not. Back-to-back missed field goals in the half would prove to be a difference maker in this game.

The Rebels picked back up right where they had left off, and scored on their first drive out of the half. After a big 34-yard play by Drummond, Snoop Conner did what he does best, and finished it out to make it 17-6 with 10 minutes left in the third quarter.

It was time for Ole Miss to get another big stop, and with the help of a huge sack from Sam Williams on 4th-and-7, the Landshark defense got it done. The offense was able to take a gamble of their own, as they opted to go for it on 4th-and-4. They converted, and later Matt Corral took it in for a touchdown to put another nail in the coffin. Analytics!

Mississippi State defender, Jett Johnson picked off Corral to put State at great field position to close the gap and score their first one of the night to make it 24-13 with 7:20 left in the game. Luckily, Ole Miss had an answer of their own in Jerrion Ealy. He scored on a 15-yard reception, to make it an 18 point game, again. State scored again, but there wasn’t enough time to finish it out, and the Rebels took the trophy home again.

The Egg Bowl is never normal or easy, but Ole Miss got it done for the second year in a row. They’ll be awaiting their post season bowl announcements following this game.