It is the third installment of rivalry week in the Southeastern Conference.
Today we are taking a look at the Egg Bowl between Mississippi State and Ole Miss at Oxford. This rivalry takes a special place this year as the Bulldogs come into the game with a bowl bid secured while the Rebels have to win the game to reach bowl eligibility.
This is a game that features good old fashioned hatred between the two teams.
“They don’t like us and we don’t like them,” said Mississippi Stated efensive back Johnthan Banks. “We’re just gonna go out and play hard, be physical and come home with a win.”
This will be the 109th renewal of the series with Ole Miss holding a 60-42-6 advantage in the Battle for the Golden Egg. Saturday’s game will be the 85th actual battle for the trophy that has been awarded to the winner since they started playing for it in 1927. The trophy was a gold-plated football. But because footballs in 1927 were more rounded than oblong, the trophy resembled a gold egg.
Ole Miss holds a 54-25-5 advantage in the Egg Bowl, although Mississippi State has won the past three games. If Ole Miss is going to reach six wins necessary for a bowl bid, it will have to beat the Bulldogs to snap that losing streak.
Ole Miss finds itself in this position after a heartbreaking three-game losing streak. Since the Rebels won their fifth game on October 27 they have lost three straight.Georgiastarted the streak with a 37-10 victory but then Vanderbilt beat the Rebels 27-26 and last week they lost to LSU 41-35 on the road. Ole Miss let fourth quarter leads slip away in the last two losses.
“We are coming off of another disappointing loss,” said Hugh Freeze. “I don’t know that in my years of coaching high school, NAIA or Division I football if I’ve ever had three more difficult ones in one year.”
But Freeze has put the last three losses behind him and is excited about coaching his first Egg Bowl.
“I’m very excited. I can’t wait for Saturday. I try not to be anxious. I don’t think that’s a good emotion to have for an entire week. It’s very difficult to fight it. You just want to get the preparation done and feel like you give your kids a solid plan that gives them a chance to compete with a very good, talented football team,” said Freeze.
“That’s what occupies my mind to keep me from being overly anxious. There’s a lot riding on this game for us. Obviously the Egg Bowl is enough, but I sure would like to send these seniors out going to play in a postseason game and our fans to get to experience that. They’re a team that deserves to do that in my eyes. I know I’m biased as can be. They’ve been through their share of hardship. Certainly with a break here or there this year, they easily could be in a pretty good bowl game.”
Freeze believes his team will be ready emotionally for the challenge ahead and will not let the past three losses carry over to Saturday.
“All I have to reflect upon in that regard is how we’ve handled the others. I’ve been pleased with the way our coaches and players have bounced back from those. I have no reason to doubt that they would in this case,” he said. “As far as the emotions going into this game go, all of that lasts probably a quarter. Maybe not even that. Then it’s going to come down to who can execute the plan best, who takes care of the ball and who makes the fewest mistakes.
“We’ll bounce back and they’ll be ready for it. We’ve been here before, gone through a difficult loss and got ready to play the next week. I have no doubt that they will this week also.”
Don’t try to tell Freeze that Mississippi State, with its bowl bid secured, might take this game lightly.
“I would think not. Not with the way that their coaching staff has stressed the emphasis of this game since they’ve been there,” he said. “I don’t think they’ll lessen that one bit in their preparation and what they do to get their kids prepared for this game. I think they’ve done a good job of stressing the emphasis of this game. I don’t see that changing.”
While the bowl situation doesn’t matter so much toMississippiState, there are a few achievements that are within the grasp of the Bulldog seniors and one particular junior. The seniors have gone 29-20 in the careers and is the winningest senior class in Starkville since the 2001 seniors went 29-19. They are only the second senior class to play in three bowl games.
MississippiState’s junior quarterback Tyler Russell has made 15 career starts and has already thrown 34 touchdown passes, tied for second on the school’s all-time list. Russell has thrown for 4,192 yards, seventh best in MSU history. He also currently is eighth in attempts, seventh in completions, tops in interception percentage and second in completion percentage.
“Obviously, this is the biggest game of the year for us. It always is every year,” said Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen. “The final game of the year-the rivalry game, means a lot to these kids. A lot of these kids played each other while growing up. We have a lot of kids fromMississippion our team that know how important this rivalry is and they grow up with it. It is not an intrastate rivalry like some rivalries are. It’s a neighbor-to-neighbor rivalry which makes it an even bigger game, and our guys know how much of a big deal that it is. We always put a huge emphasis on it. A win from this game would be a great way to finish off the season.”
It would not only improve State’s standing as a bowl team it would also keep its biggest rival out of a bowl game and that could prove big in terms of recruiting, something that is never far from any coach’s mind.
“If this game had everything to do with recruiting, then we would have gotten every kid in the last three years. And I guess they would have gotten every kid the year before I got here,” Mullen said.
“I think that a lot of guys know what they are looking for in a school. Knowing what type of values are instilled in the football program, how they want to be developed, how the program runs, what the community and the town is like-all of that just has to fit who they are. So, I don’t know that the outcome of this game always determines that.
“It will definitely give them bragging rights, but it just is what it is,” he said.