The Egg Bowl of 2016 will probably not go down in the annals of the most awesome of matchups ever, with both teams struggling and Ole Miss needing one win to secure a bowl berth. Mississippi State can only get to five wins with an Egg Bowl victory, and I’m sure nothing would make a Bulldog fan happier than a win to putt the finishing touches on a disappointing and injury marred season in Oxford.
Believe me when I say this, nothing is ever a given in the Egg Bowl…nothing. Prognosticators can pick who they think will win all they want, but the game rarely turns out how it was predicted and I have a few memories from the 20 plus Egg Bowls that I have attended in Jackson, Oxford and Starkville to prove it.
The first crazy Egg Bowl memory that I have was from within the horseshoe of Veterans Memorial Stadium in 1983. This game from the Capitol City pitted the 5-5 Ole Miss Rebels against the 3-7 Mississippi State Bulldogs.
In a contest that featured the Rebels taking a one-point lead late in the fourth quarter by a score of 24-23, I witnessed one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in a football game. The Bulldogs took possession of the football after the ensuing Rebel kickoff and marched right down the field in less than two minutes to the Rebel 10-yard line setting up what appeared to be the game-winning field goal for MSU freshman kicker Artie Crosby. There was little doubt in my mind that he would nail the 27-yard kick and I watched as the ball was snapped and the kick was attempted.
For all practical purposes, the game was over for Rebel fans and the Bulldogs would sneak out of Veterans Memorial Stadium with a two-point victory, but a sudden gust of wind blowing from left to right across the field from my vantage point, suspended the football in mid-air and deposited it harmlessly to the left and short of the goal post giving the Rebels the win. Many thought God was frowning on the Bulldogs that day, and for the entire 1983 season actually.
Another notable contest that I witnessed was the Egg Bowl of 1992 in Oxford. Both teams came in with identical 7-3 records. This was a defensive battle that had 12 turnovers between the two rivals but the goal line stand, or stands, by the Rebels is what the game is known for. The Bulldogs had 11 plays in two different possessions in the Ole Miss 10-yard line within the last four minutes of the contest but failed to score. The first possession ended on a third down pass that was intercepted in the end zone by Michael Lowery who returned it to the Rebel two-yard line. Two plays later, Ole Miss running back Corey Philpot fumbled the ball back to Mississippi State inside the five. This was the seventh Rebel turnover of the day.
The Rebel defense forced the Bulldogs into fourth-and-goal, and on the ensuing pass by quarterback Todd Jordan, Mississippi State was given new life at the Rebel two-yard line after Ole Miss was called for pass interference. The next three plays resulted in negative yardage for the Bulldogs setting up a fourth-and-goal from near the Rebel 10-yard line. Bulldog quarterback Greg Plump fired a bullet into the end zone, but the pass fell incomplete giving the Rebels the 17-10 victory.
The 1997 Egg Bowl is remembered for the way it ended. The Rebels, 7-3, were trailing the Bulldogs in Starkville, also 7-3, 14-7 with about two minutes left in the contest when Ole Miss put together a 64-yard drive that ended with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Stewart Partridge to Andre Rone. Instead of going for the tie, Ole Miss head coach Tommy Tuberville went for two-points and the win. Patridge completed the conversion pass to Cory Peterson, giving the Rebels the 15-14 win. This win secured a bowl game for the now 8-3 Rebels while the 7-4 Bulldogs did not get a bowl invite. That is kind of crazy now to think that a 7-4 team didn’t go bowling then, but moving on to my next memory and the 1999 Egg Bowl in Starkville.
The 1999 contest is known for the Mississippi State comeback after they trailed 20-6 late in the contest. The Bulldogs, 8-2, tied the game late in the fourth quarter, and on the ensuing drive for the Rebels, who were 7-3, quarterback Romero Miller was intercepted on another freakish play that will live in Egg Bowl lore forever. Instead of kneeling with 20 seconds remaining in regulation, the Rebels opted to make one more attempt down field with a long pass from Miller. Bulldog cornerback Robert Bean deflected the pass and then kicked it. Bulldog cornerback Eugene Clinton intercepted the deflected and kicked pass, returning it deep into Rebel territory setting up MSU kicker Scott Westerfield’s 44-yard game-winning field goal.
The 2007 Egg Bowl is next up in my memory for memorable games I have attended. The Bulldogs came into the contest with a 6-5 record while the Rebels were a miserable 3-8. There was no offense to speak of in the contest that was played in Starkville, other than the Rebels led 14-0 with less than eight minutes left to play in the fourth quarter. The Rebels elected to go for it on fourth down at their own 49-yard, but Benjarvis Green-Ellis was dropped for a loss by a fired-up Bulldog defense.
The Bulldogs took over on downs, and scored a few plays later, cutting the Rebel lead in half at 14-7. With about two minutes left in the contest, Mississippi State forced the Rebels three-and-out. Derek Pegues took the Justin Sparks punt and raced 65 yards for the game-tying score. After a final Ole Miss three-and-out, Bulldog quarterback Wesley Carroll went 3-of-4 through the air, setting up a field goal attempt by bloodied toe kicker Adam Carlson from the Rebel 31-yard line. Carlson left little doubt in nailing the 48-yard kick with 18 seconds left, giving State the improbable 17-14 win. The loss cemented the Rebels at 0-8 in SEC play, securing their first winless season in the conference since 1982. Ole Miss head coach Ed Orgeron was shown the door the next day.
In 2008, the Rebels returned the favor to State when Sylvester Croom was shown the door after his team was destroyed 45-0 in Oxford. The Rebels sacked Bulldog quarterbacks 11 times and held their offense to just 37 yards of total offense. The Bulldogs finished the year with a 4-8 record while the Rebels, in head coach Houston Nutt’s first year, went on to defeat Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl, finishing 9-4. This victory proved to be Nutt’s one and only in the series, because new Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen ran over Nutt for the next three years. Nutt was shown the door himself in 2011.
The 2009 Egg Bowl in Starkville featured a 4-7 Bulldog squad that was hungry for a piece of the Rebels, who were heavily favored in the contest. Ole Miss was 8-3 coming in and appeared to be headed to the Capitol One Bowl, but Mullen, Chris Relf and Anthony Dixon had other plans. The Rebels never knew what hit them and learned a lot about the “read option” on this day, falling to the Bulldogs 41-27. Dixon ran for 133 yards and a touchdown while quarterback Relf ran for 131 yards and a touchdown while throwing two touchdowns as well. The Bulldog faithful has casually referred to this game as the “From Dixon with Love”, game.
The 2012 Egg Bowl was new Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze’s first, and the Rebels came in with a 5-6 record. The Bulldogs entered the contest as heavy favorites at 8-3, but couldn’t stop Donte Moncrief…the legend of “Feed Moncrief” was born that day after he caught three touchdown passes from Rebel quarterback Bo Wallace, who threw five touchdown passes on the night. The Rebels won the contest 41-24, and secured a berth in the Compass Bowl in Birmingham, where they defeated Pittsburgh to finish 7-6. Another notable thing about the 2012 Egg Bowl was the mop-up duty done by Bulldog quarterback Dak Prescott. He was impressive on the Bulldogs last drive to push the final score to 41-24 after he threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to Chad Bumphis.
My final Egg Bowl memory occurred in 2013. The Rebels limped in as a slight favorite at 7-4 while the Bulldogs limped in at 5-6. The Rebels were without several key starters and the Bulldogs had to start true freshman Damian Williams at quarterback due to both of their primary quarterbacks, Tyler Russell and Dak Prescott being injured. It was a defensive struggle for both squads that ended in a 10-10 tie after regulation.
Prescott entered the contest with less than eight minutes left in the fourth quarter and led the Bulldogs to a game-tying field goal. Prescott got the Bulldogs to within field goal range once again during regulation, but the kick sailed wide as time expired. The game went into overtime and the Bulldogs got the ball first. The Bulldogs marched to the Rebel three-yard line, but were faced with a fourth-and-goal. Prescott bulled his way in, giving Mississippi State a 17-10 lead.
The Rebels took their first overtime possession and in just two plays appeared to be on the cusp of the game-tying touchdown as Bo Wallace raced through the middle of the Bulldog defense towards the end zone. Nickoe Whitley stripped the ball away from Wallace near the goal line and Jamerson Love recovered it in the end zone to preserve the Bulldog victory. The Bulldogs became bowl eligible with the win and crushed Rice in the Liberty Bowl 44-7 to end the year at 7-6. The Rebels defeated Georgia Tech in the Music City Bowl 25-17 to finish 8-5.
There are many games that I remember well and many that are kind of blurry, but one thing is certain in this rivalry…you just don’t ever know what you are going to get. This year’s Egg Bowl doesn’t have quite the mystique of some in years past with the Bulldogs sporting a 4-7 record and the Rebels coming in at 5-6, but the wise thing to do if you are a betting man, or woman, is to not bet on it….well at least not money anyway. Shave your head or eyebrows or maybe even wear your rivals shirt for a week or two if you loose, just leave your money off the table because things can get crazy real quick in this series. Oh yeah…wise man sayeth, “Don’t talk trash until victory is secured and Golden Egg is safe in your team’s trophy case.”
Stan Beall is the sports editor at The Star-Herald and may be contacted at sbeall@starherald.net.
