When the Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-7, 2-5 SEC) visit the Ole Miss Rebels (5-6, 2-5 SEC) on Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m., it will be the 113th meeting between the two schools that are nearly 100 miles apart. It will also be the 89th meeting since a trophy was given to the winners, which looks like a golden egg and it was referred to as the Egg Bowl. Ole Miss leads the overall series (63-43-6) and has won two in a row going into this year’s matchup. With a win, the Rebels will become bowl eligible for the fifth year in a row.
The Bulldogs are led by sophomore quarterback Nick Fitzgerald who is 175-of-318 on the year for 2,178 yards and 18 touchdowns with 10 interceptions. Fitzgerald is also MSU’s leading rusher with 985 yards and 12 touchdowns on 163 carries. Sophomore running back Aeris Williams is second in rushing for the Bulldogs with 476 yards and two touchdowns on 100 carries. Senior receiver Fred Ross is Fitzgerald’s top target with 67 catches for 835 yards and 11 touchdowns. Junior receiver Donald Gray has 679 yards on 37 catches with four touchdowns.
The Rebels are led by true freshman quarterback Shea Patterson after All-SEC senior quarterback Chad Kelly went down with a knee injury against Georgia Southern. Kelly was 205-of-328 for 2,758 yards and 19 touchdowns with eight interceptions on the year before the injury. Patterson took over for the Rebels against Texas A&M and has completed 45-of-84 passes for 560 yards and four touchdowns with one interception. The Rebels leading rusher is senior running back Akeem Judd with 719 yards rushing on 145 attempts with six touchdowns. Senior tight end Evan Engram leads all receivers with 926 yards and eight touchdowns on 65 catches while junior receiver Damore’ea Stringfellow has amassed 619 yards on 44 catches with four touchdowns.
As a team on the defensive side of the football the Bulldogs have given up 1,930 yards and 17 touchdowns on the ground while giving up 3,077 yards and 29 touchdowns through the air. Comparatively, the Rebels have given up 2,514 yards and 27 touchdowns on the ground while giving up 2,470 yards and 12 touchdowns through the air.
Defensively the Bulldogs are led by senior linebacker Richie Brown who has 89 total tackles with 1.5 sacks and 4 TFL’s with one forced fumble. Redshirt freshman linebacker Leo Lewis is the second leading tackler for the Bulldogs with 66 total and 3 TFL’s. Kivon Coman, Mark McLaurin and Jamoral Graham lead the team with two interceptions apiece while senior defensive lineman Johnathan Calvin leads the Bulldogs with 5 sacks with senior defensive lineman A. J. Jefferson close behind him with 4 sacks of his own.
The Rebels are led defensively by junior linebacker DeMarquis Gates with 75 tackles, 4 sacks and 5.5 TFL’s. Gates will miss the first half of the Egg Bowl due to being ejected for a targeting penalty early in the third quarter against Vanderbilt. Sophomore defensive back Zedrick Woods is the Rebels second leading tackler with a total of 58 with 2.5 TFL’s and three interceptions. Junior defensive end Marquis Haynes leads the Rebels with 6 sacks and 10 TFL’s while amassing 44 total tackles. Senior defensive back Derrick Jones is second on the team with two interceptions.
The Bulldogs look to salvage a disappointing season, without quarterback Dak (Prescott), but with a promising young quarterback in Fitzgerald and a myriad of youngsters, while the Rebels will look to become bowl eligible after an injury plagued season that came up far short of their expectations as well as those of the national prognosticators after starting the season ranked No. 11.
