MSU’s Mullen wary of Ole Miss in Egg Bowl
Mississippi’s football season hasn’t gone as planned, and the Rebels will enter tonight’s Egg Bowl as at least two-touchdown underdogs.
Even so, Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen knows this is no time to get overconfident.
“When you play rivalry games, records, last year’s game, what happened the year before or two years before, none of that really holds a lot of weight for this one,” Mullen said.
Mississippi State (8-3, 4-3 SEC) will be trying to win its second straight Egg Bowl when it hosts Ole Miss (5-6, 2-5). The 16th-ranked Bulldogs have momentum — having won five of their past six games — and will enjoy a raucous home crowd on senior night.
But some of the biggest upsets in the series have come in the past decade.
In 2009, Mullen’s first Mississippi State team had a 4-7 record heading into the Egg Bowl but won 41-27 over a 20th-ranked Ole Miss team that was 8-3.
In 2014, Ole Miss returned the favor. Mississippi State was ranked No. 4 in the College Football Playoff, but No. 18 Ole Miss won 31-17.
Ole Miss interim coach Matt Luke said if the Rebels want a happy outcome this season, they must find a way to contain Mississippi State’s running game. Quarterback Nick Fitzgerald and running back Aeris Williams combine for nearly 175 yards rushing per game.
“They do a great job of running the football,” Luke said. “That’s something we’ve struggled with, so we have our work cut out going there and stopping the run and forcing them to throw it.
The Ole Miss opportunity is built around the SEC’s leading passing offense. Backup quarterback Jordan Ta’amu — who took over for the injured Shea Patterson in October — has managed to keep the Rebels rolling in most of his starts.
“He throws the ball, understands their offense, makes the reads but is also very dangerous,” Mullen said. “He can beat you, not just with quarterback runs, but the ones that are more dangerous are the extending of plays and scrambling.”
The Egg Bowl has been an extremely close rivalry over the past three decades with Ole Miss and Mississippi State each having won 15 meetings. Neither school has won more than three in a row during that span. Mullen has a 5-3 record in Egg Bowls since arriving in 2009, but Ole Miss has won three of the past five.