Four Keys to an Ole Miss win over Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Happy Thanksgiving to all! Tonight, Ole Miss and State will kick off in the 120th meeting of the two teams. The Rebels hold a 64-47-6 advantage in the series dating back to 1901, including a 23-15-3 mark in Starkville.

Ole Miss is seeking just its second ever 10-win regular season alongside the 2021 campaign. Here are four keys to a Rebel win.

[For the Egg Bowl previews and predictions from our panel, click here.]

Offensive Line Play

The Ole Miss offensive line will be handed a tall task Thursday night in Starkville. The Rebels lost right tackle Micah Pettus the week before the Georgia game due to a foot injury and then left tackle Jayden Williams, who had stepped in to help the revamped line, was injured in the first quarter against Georgia. Fortunately, Ole Miss has some versatile linemen who are able to play different spots as needed. Nevertheless, communicating pre-snap will be the first thing the unit will be tasked with due to the noise from cowbells. Getting calls from QB Jaxson Dart and communicating with one another will not be easy and pre-snap penalties have been a bit of an issue this season. 

Then, once the ball is snapped, the o-line will have to give Dart the time to throw. Last week against ULM, he was sacked three times while the Warhawks tallied six QB hits. Running backs Quinshon Judkins and Ulysses Bentley IV are very talented backs, so getting them some creases to run through could go a long way in helping. The x-factor in much of the ground game improvement this season has been tight end Caden Prieskorn, who head coach Lane Kiffin believes has helped the rushing game tremendously with his blocking skills. The offensive line will determine how this game goes for Ole Miss. 

Note: Sophomore running back Judkins only needs 67 yards to reach the 1,000-yard mark for the second season in a row. Starkville would be a great place for that to happen! 

Defend the Run

Over the last two games, the Ole Miss defense has given up a little over six yards per rush attempt. Mississippi State’s leading rusher Jo’Quavious Marks is averaging 4.9 yards per carry this season. Marks found much of his success early in the season and has been plagued with some injuries in the back half of the season but did play last week against Southern Miss.

Marks, Jeffrey Pittman and Seth Davis carried the work load against Southern Miss. last Saturday. The Bulldogs, who are averaging 151.3 rushing yards per game as a team, ran for 238 yards in the game, something the Rebs will need to slow down in this one. 

In a game that is expected to be very physical, stopping the run is a must. Otherwise it will lead to long drives for Mississippi State. With the up tempo offense that the Rebels run, long drives by the opponent are not ideal.

Disrupt Will Rogers

Mississippi State QB Will Rogers has had a down year compared to his previous three seasons where he dominated the stat sheet week-in and week-out. However, there is still a lot to be said for a quarterback who has thrown for 12,000 yards and 94 touchdowns in his career.

Rogers has been pressured on 25% of his dropbacks this season and when that happens, his completion percentage drops to 46%. This is as opposed to his 63% completion rate when not pressured. Through his seven games, he has thrown two touchdowns and two interceptions under pressure and ten touchdowns and two interceptions when not pressured through. Regardless of how his season has gone, Rogers still requires the utmost respect from the Ole Miss defense as it is well documented what the signal caller can do.

Stay Cool

This may sound like a given, but we have all seen how heated Egg Bowl games can get. It is very important for players and coaches in red and blue to stay on an even keel for four quarters. Playing with emotion and passion is one thing, but when you let it get the best of you it can turn into 15-yard penalties and even possible ejections. Ole Miss doesn’t need any of that as they pursue their second 10-win regular season in three years. Let the play on the field do all the talking.

Hotty Toddy!