STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen took the 2014 Battle for the Golden Egg loss hard.
After MSU lost to Ole Miss 31-17 in Oxford, Mullen said he wasn’t going to be able to sleep for the next 365 days until the teams renewed the rivalry in 2015 in Starkville. A 38-27 loss last season means MSU has two in a row in the series for the first time in Mullen’s tenure.
MSU (4-7, 2-5 Southeastern Conference) will try to end that streak at 2:30 p.m. Saturday (SEC Network) when it takes on Ole Miss (5-6, 2-5) in the Egg Bowl at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
“A lot of bragging rights for all the fans and people take a lot of pride in winning the game and having the bragging rights for that year,” Mullen said. “I think our guys understand how important this game is and how much it means to the fan bases of both schools.”
Mullen took over at MSU in December 2008 and won his first three games against Ole Miss (41-27 in 2009, 31-23 in 2010 and 31-3 in 2011). But Ole Miss won 41-24 in coach Hugh Freeze’s first season in 2012. MSU rebounded with a 17-10 win overtime in 2013 to become bowl eligible.
The 2014 game featured No. 4 MSU against No. 18 Ole Miss. Both teams were vying for a spot in one of the New Year’s Six bowls. Both made one as MSU lost to Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl and Ole Miss lost to TCU in the Peach Bowl. This season, both teams are trying to make a bowl game.
“There’s been times when this was all there was, just this game,” Mullen said. “I think over the last couple of years, both programs have done a great job of raising their level play and what they have to play for. All of a sudden both teams have been playing for bigger things. I don’t mean to say that to lessen the importance of this game, but I just think the successes both programs have had over the last couple of years has not made this game an all-or-nothing game that maybe it used to be for both schools.”
MSU senior wide receiver Fred Ross, a Tyler, Texas, native, didn’t grow up with the Egg Bowl rivalry like many of his teammates that are from the state of Mississippi. He said he realized the significance of the game when he was a freshman in 2013 and he heard a lot of trash talk.
“I didn’t know how big this rivalry was. I found out quickly after my freshman year,” Ross said. “After we won that trophy and the way the celebration was, it was crazy.”
Bowling options
A victory would help MSU improve to 5-7 and keep its bowl hopes alive. Entering this week’s games, there are 64 bowl eligible teams. Sixteen more are needed to fill the 80 spots. Those spots could be filled by teams that get to 6-6, but there is a chance some 5-7 teams will get a chance to get a bowl.
There weren’t enough teams to fill bowl slots last season, so the NCAA instituted a rule that would allow the 5-7 teams with the highest Academic Progress Rate (APR) to go bowling. MSU has an APR score of 971.
“It’s not something we can control,” Mullen said. “I try not to worry about things you can’t control. If that happens, it would be a heck of a deal. I’d be happy to go. I’m sure our players would be happy. I’m such a proponent of the bowl system and what it means and all of those things.
“The general bowl game experience I think is just tremendous for all the student-athletes, a tremendous experience for them. If the phone rang and they invited us, I don’t know if it’s my decision, I’m sure it’s above me, that decision, but I know I wouldn’t say no.”
With two weeks left in the regular season there are 11 teams that could finish 5-7 that are ahead of MSU in the APR (Duke, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, North Texas, Boston College, Indiana, Maryland, Notre Dame, Syracuse, UCLA, and Texas). MSU and Texas, which will play host to TCU on Friday night, have the same APR score.
Army is 6-5, but two of those wins have come against Football Championship Subdivision schools (Lafayette and Morgan State). If Army beats Navy on Dec. 10 in Baltimore, Maryland, it will be bowl eligible. If not, Army will be the first team to fill an open spot if there aren’t enough bowl eligible teams.
Hawaii could reach 6-7 with a victory against Massachusetts on Saturday in Honolulu. The Warriors would have priority over 5-7 teams if there aren’t enough bowl eligible. Army has priority over Hawaii if one team is needed.
MSU has been to a school-record six-straight bowl games. MSU last missed a bowl game in 2009 after it finished 5-7 in Mullen’s first season.
“I haven’t even thought a bit about it or how the process even goes,” Mullen said. “I wouldn’t know how any of that worked. I wouldn’t mind trying to find out, though. I’ll take a win and maybe look into it. If we get a win Saturday, I’ll start looking into it that night.”
Injury update
Mullen expects senior running back Brandon Holloway (shoulder) to play Saturday.
Holloway missed the game against Arkansas after suffering the injury in practice. Holloway, who has 221 yards on 49 carries and one touchdown, missed games against BYU, Kentucky, and Samford with a left ankle injury.
Mullen expected to have Holloway at practice Monday.
Junior punter Logan Cooke has missed the last two games with a knee injury. He was injured Nov. 5 in the game against Texas A&M. Mullen said Cooke will be a game-time decision.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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