Fred Ross, a Tyler, Texas, native, came to Mississippi State knowing nothing about the Egg Bowl, but he quickly learned.
He had heard his teammates from Mississippi talk a lot about it, and then he realized the significance of the game when he was a freshman in 2013 and he heard a lot of trash talk on the field.
“I didn’t know how big this rivalry was. I found out quickly after my freshman year,” said the Bulldog senior wide receiver. “After we won that trophy and the way the celebration was, it was crazy.”
Ole Miss can clinch a fifth straight bowl game under coach Hugh Freeze with a third straight win against Mississippi State at 2:30 p.m. Saturday (SEC Network) at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford.
“It’s a game that means an extraordinary amount to this university, to our fan base, and to theirs,” Freeze said. “It’s going to be a great challenge. We’ve had a lot of adversity. To prepare to try to get a sixth win and gain bowl eligibility against your in-state rival, these games are always quite interesting, regardless of records. They’re always highly competitive, and I know this one will be no different.”
MSUhead coach Dan Mullen took the 2014 Battle for the Golden Egg loss hard.
After MSU lost to Ole Miss 31-17 in Oxford, Mullen said he wasn’t going to be able to sleep for the next 365 days until the teams renewed the rivalry in 2015 in Starkville. A 38-27 loss last season means MSU has lost two in a row in the series for the first time in Mullen’s tenure.
MSU (4-7, 2-5 SEC) will try to end that streak against Ole Miss (5-6, 2-5) in what is unfortunately a battle to avoid the cellar in the SEC West.
“A lot of bragging rights for all the fans and people who take a lot of pride in winning the game and having the bragging rights for that year,” Mullen said. “I think our guys understand how important this game is and how much it means to the fan bases of both schools.”
Mullen took over at MSU in December 2008 and won his first three games against Ole Miss (41-27 in 2009, 31-23 in 2010 and 31-3 in 2011). But Ole Miss won 41-24 in Freeze’s first season in 2012. MSU rebounded with a 17-10 win in overtime in 2013 to become bowl eligible.
Both defenses have struggled mightily this season, meaning there could be a shootout in Oxford Saturday.
Ole Miss has given up 5.97 yards per play this year, 11th in the SEC. State has allowed 6.22 yards per play, ahead of only Arkansas. The Rebels’ 32.1 points allowed per game are 12th, two spots ahead of Mississippi State’s 34.3.
“We have a great challenge in trying to stop their offense. It’s a good scheme, and their quarterback (sophomore Nick Fitzgerald) is playing at a really high level with skilled receivers. Defensively, they’ve given up yards and points, as have we, and we’ve got to be sure we’re scoring touchdowns in the red zone when we get those opportunities, because it seems, as you watch them and you watch us, that it could easily be who scores the most touchdowns.”
In freshman Shea Patterson’s second start at quarterback, Ole Miss built a 10-0 lead but struggled defensively in the second half of a 38-17 loss to Vanderbilt. Patterson was 20-of-42 for 222 yards and two touchdowns.
However, Ole Miss couldn’t duplicate the second-half magic from Patterson’s first start. In that game, Ole Miss rallied from a 21-6 halftime deficit to post a 29-28 win at then-No. 8 Texas A&M.
“He’s probably about where you would expect any freshman who came out this early in the season to be,” Freeze said.
“He had a great game at Texas A&M by many people’s standards. But we watched the film and you see there are still many things he doesn’t quite understand. The Vanderbilt game, there was some of that also. But he also had about 10 drops. He missed a couple of passes too. He had Quincy Adeboyejo on a touchdown and Evan (Engram) on a touchdown and he missed those, so it’s a combination.”
