Mississippi State captured the Egg Bowl over Ole Miss, 24-22, on Thanksgiving Day. The win over Ole Miss was the first SEC road win for MSU. The Bulldogs will now await a bowl invitation for the 13th consecutive season. The win vaulted the Bulldogs to No. 25 in both the AP and the Coaches Poll. The win was also significant for Bulldog head coach Mike Leach after consecutive losses to the Rebels in his first two seasons at the MSU helm. The Bulldogs' win gives them an 8-4 season and improves them to 4-4 in SEC play which is good enough for third place in the SEC West. The Bulldogs were selected to finish seventh in most pre-season polls. Mississippi State has tended to fly under the national radar, but the Bulldogs are 15-10 in the last two seasons and 8-8 in SEC play. The Dogs have won seven games over AP Top 25 opponents since 2020.
For Ole Miss the major distraction of their coach Lane Kiffin staying or leaving was on every Rebel faithful entering the Egg Bowl. Looking back to mid October, the Rebels were 7-0, ranked No. 7 in the AP poll and were mentioned as a dark horse to make the college playoffs. The Rebels' 29-week streak in the AP poll rankings came to an end this week with their loss to MSU. It was Ole Miss's fourth loss in their last five games. Ole Miss finished 8-4 overall and 4-4 in SEC play, which was a fourth place finish just as the Rebels were picked in the preseason. Ole Miss is also waiting on their bowl destination, as this will mark their 40th bowl appearance and third consecutive.
Frank Gore Jr. ran for a career high 199 yards in leading Southern Mississippi past ULM, 20-10, on Saturday. Gore also topped the 1,000-yard mark for the season with the effort. The win qualifies the Golden Eagles for a post-season bowl trip. It will be the Eagles' first bowl since 2019 and will also be their 27th in school history. USM (6-4, 4-4 Sun Belt) will learn of their bowl destination Sunday.
Southern University (7-4, 5-3) defeated Grambling, 34-17, to win the West Division SWAC title and will now face unbeaten Jackson State (11-0) in the SWAC Championship to be played Saturday at 3 p.m. in Jackson at Mississippi Veterans Stadium. The game will be televised live on ESPN2.
West Florida (11-1) erased a 14-point Delta State (11-2) lead in the fourth period to end the Statesmen's season, 38-27, in the second round of the NCAA Division II football playoffs.
The Mississippi High School Activities Association will host the 2022 State Football Championship this weekend at M.M. Roberts Stadium on the campus of Southern Mississippi. On Friday, the schedule is 3A Noxubee County taking on Raleigh, at 11 a.m.; 1A defending champion Bay Springs meeting McEvans, who is making their first ever appearance, at 3 p.m.; 5A's showdown of a rematch of last years title game between 11 time state champion West Point and last year’s champs Picayune at 7 p.m. Saturday’s schedule is Class 4A Louisville, who is 10-0 in state championship games meeting Mendenhall at 11 a.m.; 2A's 2021 champion Scott Central meeting Charleston at 3 p.m. and 6A's Starkville meeting last year’s runner-up Brandon at 7 p.m.
Jones County running back Robert Henry won the 2022 Walter Jones Trophy, awarded to the nation’s top junior college player in NJCAA Division 1 football. Henry, a Lumberton native, was the nation’s leading rusher in NJCAA Division I. The award was given by the Orlando Touchdown Club last week and was named for former Holmes CC offensive lineman Walter Jones. Jones went on to a Hall of Fame career in the NFL playing for Seattle.
Entering this week’s play in men's basketball play, Southern Mississippi is (7-0), Mississippi State is (6-0), and Ole Miss is (6-1).
Listen to Dale and Marshall Wood on the Brouhaha Sports Show each Tuesday at 6 p.m. on WABO FM 105.5 in the Waynesboro area. This week’s guest is Tyler Cleveland of SBLive Sports. To listen to the broadcast on your computer or smart phone anywhere in the world, go to Google Chrome, go to wabo105.com and click listen live. You may also go to The Brouhaha on YouTube to listen to archived shows. Dale has been writing sports since 1973. Contact him at ddmckee18@yahoo.com.
