Rebels survive Bulldogs’ late rally
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Jordan Ta’amu threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns, Jordan Wilkins ran for two scores and Mississippi upset No. 14 Mississippi State 31-28 on Thursday night.
Ole Miss (6-6, 3-5 Southeastern Conference) held off a late Mississippi State rally to win the Egg Bowl for the fourth time in six seasons.
“I’m just so happy for our players and our fans,” Ole Miss interim coach Matt Luke said. “This means so much to them. It hasn’t been always easy this year. We’ve been on some better teams with better records, but they’ll always remember this year and how they fought through adversity.”
A.J. Brown, the SEC’s leader in yards receiving, had six catches for 167 yards. Wilkins had 110 yards rushing for Ole Miss.
Mississippi State (8-4, 4-4) was a two-touchdown favorite, but had to play most of the game without starting quarterback Nick Fitzgerald. He was carted off the field in the first quarter with a leg injury.
Fitzgerald came into the game with 968 yards rushing this season, which was the most for a quarterback in the SEC. Without him, the Bulldogs turned to freshman Keytaon Thompson, but the offense wasn’t nearly as effective until the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs trailed 3113 with 8:23 remaining, but scored two touchdowns to pull to 31-28 with 1:05 left. Ole Miss recovered an onside kick to seal the victory.
“We just ran out of time there at the end,” Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said. “Our guys gave relentless effort for 60 minutes. I just wish we had 61 or 62.”