No. 20 Ole Miss Falls Short to Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl

By Adam Brown

Sports Editor

No. 20 Ole Miss falls to in-state rival Mississippi State 24-22 in the Egg Bowl on Thursday night. 

Ole Miss (8-4, 4-4 SEC) had a chance to knot the game at 24-24 in the final two minutes, but came up short on a two point play on a rainy night. 

Ole Miss and Mississippi State traded points on their first possessions as the Rebels got a field goal off the boot of Jonathan Cruz. 

The Bulldogs quickly answered with a touchdown as running back Jo’Quavious Marks found the end zone from a yard out to go up 7-3. 

The Rebels got into the red zone in the last two minutes of the first quarter and Cruz connected from 33 yards out. 

Cruz put the Rebels back ahead 9-7 early in the second quarter on a field goal from 49 yards out. 

The Rebels defense gave the Bulldogs issues on with the ball. Ole Miss forced four-straight three and outs. 

Junior JJ Pegues recorded the Rebels first touchdown of the game on a pass from Jaxson Dart. Ole Miss took a 16-7 advantage over Mississippi State. 

Mississippi State quickly answered right before halftime as Will Rogers found Lideatrick Griffin  on a 19 yard reception that cut the score to 16-14 at halftime. 

Rogers threw for 239 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. 

To start the third quarter neither offense get going. On Mississippi State’s third possession the Rebels recover a fumble at the Bulldogs 36. 

In the third quarter, neither team could score. 

Mississippi State regained the lead early in the fourth quarter by a field goal to go up 17-16. 

The Bulldogs add a touchdown to go up 24-16 over Ole Miss. 

Ole Miss recovered a fumble by Rogers at the end zone and drove down to score. Dart found Dayton Wade for a touchdown but couldn’t convert the two point conversion. 

Dart finished the night passing for 250 yards and two touchdowns. 

Ole Miss will await to see which bowl game they will be playing in.