Postgame Notes at Mississippi State as Rebels win the Egg Bowl, 17-7

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Ole Miss football earned a huge win over Mississippi State, 17-7, Thursday night in Starkville, moving the Rebels to 10-2 on the season, 5-2 in league play.

Here are some notes and notables from the game.

Series Information

• This game was the 120th meeting of one of the nation’s most-played rivalries.

• Ole Miss now holds a 65-47-6 advantage in the series dating back to 1901, including a 24-15-3 mark in Starkville.

• The original record is now 65-49-6 in favor of Ole Miss … The Rebels had wins in 2012 & 2014 vacated due to NCAA ruling, while Mississippi State forfeited wins in 1976 & 1977.

• This game was the 96th “Battle of the Golden Egg,” as the two schools started playing for the trophy in 1927 … Ole Miss now holds a 59-30-5 advantage in the “Egg Bowl”.

• According to Ole Miss records, this was the 32nd time the series has been played on Thanksgiving Day … Ole Miss now holds a 17-14-1 advantage in Thanksgiving games, including a 11-4 mark in games played in Starkville.

• The Rebels own the four longest separate winning streaks in the series (nine, six, six and five games).

• Including a pair of forfeited victories, Ole Miss posted a 38-7-2 record versus MSU from 1944-1990.

• From 1947-1963, the Rebels posted a 15-0-2 mark against MSU … That means a child born in December 1946 was a senior in high school before they saw Ole Miss lose to the Bulldogs.

• From 2004-2014, the home team won all but two games … Since then, the road team has won six of the last nine.

Captains

• Ashanti Cistrunk (LB), Tre Harris (WR), Cedric Johnson (DE), JJ Pegues (DT)

Starters

• RG Jeremy James made his 48th consecutive start, also the 48th start of his career … Other double-digit streaks included CB Deantre Prince (27), QB Jaxson Dart (23), OL Caleb Warren (21), RB Quinshon Judkins (18), S Trey Washington (14), OL Victor Curne (12), OL Quincy McGee (12), S John Saunders Jr. (12) and WR Dayton Wade (12).

• Rebels with 30 or more career starts who also started today include James (48), Warren (43) and Prince (35).

General Notes

• Attendance for today’s game was 60,412.

• This marks the ninth 10-win season in Ole Miss history … Head coach Lane Kiffin is now only the second coach ever at Ole Miss to have multiple 10-win seasons alongside John Vaught, who did so four times … Kiffin led the Rebels to a 10-3 record and a Sugar Bowl berth in 2021.

• The 24 combined points were the fewest in an Egg Bowl since 1996 (17; Mississippi State 17, Ole Miss 0).

• This marked the first time the Egg Bowl was scoreless through the first quarter since Nov. 28, 2013 in Starkville (L, 17-10/OT).

• Tonight was the first Egg Bowl without a touchdown in the first half by either team since Nov. 24, 1990, in Jackson (W, 21-9; Mississippi State led the first half, 3-0).

Offensive Notes

• RB Quinshon Judkins ran for 119 yards on the night, surpassing the 1,000 yard rushing mark this season … This is the 10th thousand-yard season in Ole Miss history, and Judkins is now only the third Rebel to ever have multiple seasons beyond 1,000 (Kayo Dottley: 1949, ’50; BenJarvus Green-Ellis: 2006, ’07).

• Judkins is only the ninth rusher in SEC history to repeat with a 1,000-yard yard season as a sophomore after doing so as a freshman, the first since 2017 (Benny Snell, Kentucky).

• Judkins ran in for his 15th rushing touchdown this season, the 31st of his career … This was also the 33rd all-purpose TD of his career, tying Brandon Bolden for second all-time at Ole Miss.

(Courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics)

• Judkins is now only the eighth rusher in FBS history and second in SEC history alongside Georgia’s Herschel Walker (1980-81) to have both 1,000 yards and 15 TDs in each of his first two seasons … Walker and Judkins were both true freshmen and sophomores … Judkins is the first FBS rusher to do so since Oregon’s Royce Freeman (2014-15).

• QB Jaxson Dart went 14-for-26 and ended the night with 96 yards and a touchdown … Dart now has 20 passing TDs this season, tying a season career-high.

• Dart now is tied for 9th all-time at Ole Miss in single-season passing TD with four Rebels.

• TE Caden Prieskorn caught a 26-yard pass from Dart for his second touchdown of the season, ninth of his career.

Defensive Notes

• The Landshark Defense held Mississippi State to its fewest total yards (303) in the Egg Bowl since 2019 (318).

• S Daijahn Anthony brought down a career high 15 tackles, six solo, with eight coming in the first half … The last time a Rebel had 15 tackles in a game was Lakia Henry versus Vanderbilt in 2019 (15).

• LB Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste recorded 10 tackles, a new career-high, with eight in the first half.

• This is the first time this season Ole Miss has had two Rebels with double-digit tackles in a game and the first time overall since the 2022 Egg Bowl when Ole Miss had three in double figures.

• LB Ashanti Cistrunk ended with nine tackles, six in the first half.

• CB Deantre Prince recorded his first career sack for a loss of one yard and ended with two tackles … Prince entered the season with only 1.0 TFL and has recorded 5.0 this year alone.

Special Teams Notes

• K Caden Costa completed the lone field goal attempt on the night, his first attempt of the season.

• P Fraser Masin punted a career-high eight times for a career-high of 345 yards … Masin put up a long punt of 48 yards and pinned six of them inside the 20.

(Feature image credit: Ole Miss Athletics)