STARKVILLE — Dan Mullen’s first memory of the Battle for the Golden Egg was a random occurrence.
In 1999, Mullen was a graduate assistant for then-head coach Bob Davie and was helping Notre Dame prepare for its regular-season finale against Stanford. While in a hotel room in Palo Alto, Calif., Mullen flipped on the television in his room and found teams from Mississippi.
“We had our big Thanksgiving dinner, we had all of our meetings, and it was back in the hotel room, so I just saw the end of the game,” Mullen said. “I remember the ball being kicked up in the air and Mississippi State scoring 10 points in the last 30 seconds of the game to win,” Mullen said. “That was my Thanksgiving night.
“When I came here, I just assumed that was a Thanksgiving Day game.”
At the time, Mullen had never been to Mississippi, so all he knew about Starkville is MSU played Ole Miss on Thanksgiving in the battle for the Golden Egg Trophy for the regular-season finale.
Mullen hopes to add to his Egg Bowl memories at 6:30 p.m. Thursday (ESPN) and to earn a critical win for his program at Davis Wade Stadium. The fifth-year head coach, who is 3-1 vs. Ole Miss, has won both home games in the rivalry by an average score of 36-15. The only other coach to be 4-1 against Ole Miss is Allyn McKeen from 1939-44.
“Two years ago, we were in the same position,” Mullen said. “We were 5-6 and got a big win and went on the Music City Bowl. Got a big win there, too. I don’t see much of it besides that. We could 11-0 and 0-11 and for a lot of fans and people in this state, we could go 11-1 and lose the Egg Bowl and they’d be pretty disappointed. With a 1-11 record and win the Egg Bowl, they’ll say they’ll take that. This game is it’s own special entity. Rivalries are so fun because of that.”
The Battle for the Golden Egg provides a connection to Mullen’s hometown in Manchester, N.H. While growing up in New Hampshire, two state schools played in the annual Turkey Bowl in Manchester to determine the city champion. As a senior, Mullen’s Trinity High School lost the annual battle.
“They played it in eight inches of snow and (it was) the only game in New England that day because they don’t cancel the Turkey Bowl,” Mullen said. “My high school lost to West in a tragic set of events. It was a pretty neat deal, and when I came here I was disappointed to learn (The Egg Bowl) wasn’t on Thanksgiving Day. Now it is and I’m excited. It makes it more unique.”
This will be the first time since 2003 Ole Miss (7-4, 3-4 Southeastern Conference) and MSU will meet on Thanksgiving, which was the last time ESPN televised the Battle for the Golden Egg. Mullen hoped the rivalry would return to Thanksgiving. He will get his wish Thursday as his Bulldogs (5-6, 2-5) try to earn their sixth victory to become bowl eligible for the fourth-consecutive year.
“I think it’s a really neat deal and neat opportunity for us to get the opportunity to go play Thanksgiving night and bring back some tradition to the game that has been lost in the past,” Mullen said.
Since becoming coach at MSU, Mullen has created Egg Bowl moments. In Mullen’s first Egg Bowl, as he was trying to establish a culture and still searching for a program-defining victory, MSU beat No. 24 Ole Miss 41-27 in Starkville. While on the field at Davis Wade Stadium, Mullen was handed a microphone and said, “I know one thing. There’s certainly one program in this state that’s definitely on the rise and going in the right direction.”
MSU senior offensive lineman Gabe Jackson said that was his first memory of the Egg Bowl as a player.
“I was a freshman being redshirted and I remembered thinking that the atmosphere was so high on the sidelines,” Jackson said. “I couldn’t imagine the pressure of that game until you’re down on that field.”
Mullen’s biggest emotional low came last year in Oxford when he suffered his first loss in the rivalry. The Ole Miss marketing department played a video of Mullen saying to his team, “We’re never going to lose to that team” on the jumbotron at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
“I was really unhappy Saturday night and less happy after watching the film on Sunday morning,” Mullen said Monday at his weekly media conference. “I’m just as mad today about losing the Egg Bowl last year as I was a year ago Sunday. That doesn’t change. You just don’t have time to dwell on things and are already on to the next thing happening in the program.”
At Ole Miss, Hugh Freeze has the Rebels bowl eligible for the second-straight year. Despite a 24-10 loss to then-No. 8 Missouri on Saturday, Freeze has energized the program and the Rebels’ fans. He appreciates the fans’ passion for the Battle for the Golden Egg.
“I know they will be very emotional, not only because it is the Egg Bowl but because they’re playing for extra practices and a bowl game,” Freeze said, “so we better get our kids ready. It’s always important when you play that game, and I know they have their backs to the wall and they’ll have their team ready. We gotta get ready.”
Follow Matt Stevens on Twitter @matthewcstevens.
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