Gamer: No. 12 Ole Miss Defeats Mississippi State, 17-7, to Win the Egg Bowl
STARKVILLE, Miss. – The No. 12 Ole Miss Rebels defeated the Mississippi State Bulldogs, 17-7, to win the Egg Bowl Thursday night in Starkville.
Ole Miss finished the regular season with a 10-2 overall record and a 6-2 mark in the SEC.
“Really proud of our guys,” Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin said after the game. “They are 10-2 again for the second time in the last three years.”
Running back Quinshon Judkins finished with 119 yards in the game to give him 1,052 rushing yards, his second consecutive 1,000-yard season.
Make it back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons for Quinshon Judkins!@qaj4_ | ESPN pic.twitter.com/i8sA6hYSP4
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) November 24, 2023
Ole Miss outscored the Bulldogs, 14-7, in the second half, the second consecutive week Ole Miss needed a second-half burst.
Mississippi State (5-7) took the lead in the third quarter as quarterback Will Rogers dashed into the end zone from one yard out for the first touchdown of the game to go up 7-3.
Ole Miss answered with back-to-back touchdowns on the next two drives. The first one was capped off by a two-yard run by Quinshon Judkins.
Rebs take the lead!@qaj4_ | ESPN pic.twitter.com/2vQhkz5TND
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) November 24, 2023
Then on the next one, Jaxson Dart found Caden Prieskorn going down the field for a 26-yard touchdown.
Big Poppa for six! @cpkorn12 | ESPN pic.twitter.com/UchGXBJw06
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) November 24, 2023
Prieskorn led the receiving corps with four receptions for 38 yards and a touchdown.
Judkins finished the game with 28 touches for 119 yards and a touchdown. Senior running back Ulysses Bentley added 63 yards on 10 touches.
Rogers and the Bulldogs made a push in the fourth quarter to cut the Rebels’ lead to three points. Ole Miss forced a 50-yard field goal attempt but it was no good.
Rogers finished the game going 25-of-39 for 207 yards. He also ran the ball three times for 10 yards and a touchdown.
In the first half, the Rebels kept Mississippi State off the scoreboard. Ole Miss got on the scoreboard first in the second quarter on a 36-yard field goal off the boot of Caden Costa.
The Rebels went into the locker room up 3-0 over Mississippi State.
“That’s a cool way of winning,” Kiffin said. “Playing a defense like that, but running the ball in. “
Early in the contest, neither team could get anything going offensively as both defenses forced punts. The Rebels’ defense sacked Rogers once courtesy of senior cornerback Deantre Prince
Dart finished the game going 14-of-26 for 96 yards and a touchdown. He also carried the ball eight times for 30 yards.
Ole Miss outgained the Bulldogs by four yards, 307 to 303 yards. Ole Miss notched 211 yards on the ground while Mississippi State had 96 on the ground.
Ole Miss now awaits until bowl selection Sunday to find out where they’ll be headed for postseason.
(Feature image credit: Ole Miss Athletics)
Adam Brown joins The Rebel Walk as the Managing Editor after being on the Ole Miss beat as a Sports Editor for over 11 years. He is a lifelong Oxford resident. Brown graduated from the University of Mississippi with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
Prior to The Rebel Walk, Brown was the sports editor of HottyToddy.com covering every Ole Miss sport and local high school sports in the community.