STARKVILLE — When asked what the Egg Bowl rivalry means to him, Rockey Felker looked to the sky and took a deep breath before answering.
Brevity isn’t a useful personality trait when the former Mississippi State head football coach talks about importance of that matchup.
“Understand no matter what, the sun will come up the next morning, but then again — it’s Ole Miss, so to some people around here that’s debatable after a loss,” Felker said.
Among all the trash talk and media campaigns, Felker is a member of the MSU football staff who can remind football coach Dan Mullen why it’s important to win the Egg Bowl game.
Felker, who is director of player personnel and high school relations, lost his final game as MSU head coach of the MSU in 1990 at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson.
“I remember the ’90 game more because I remember not having a good feeling I would be allowed to come back after that game,” Felker said. “It was frustrating not to be able to win that game and put together a winning season.”
That 21-9 loss weighed heavily on MSU as it finished 5-6 for the second consecutive season, one victory away from qualifying for a bowl game.
MSU (5-6, 1-6 Southeastern Conference) is in that position for the first time since that 1990 loss, but Mullen has attempted to downplay the postseason element to the rivalry game.
“To me the Egg Bowl is the most important thing. If it means a bowl game, fantastic. But if it doesn’t, fantastic,” Mullen said shaking his head. “It’s all about winning that game, as it’s always been since the day I took this job.”
At 6 p.m. Saturday (ESPNU), Houston Nutt will coach Ole Miss (2-9, 0-7) for the last time. Nutt was asked to resign Nov. 7, but he was allowed to finish this season.
Felker said Monday he can relate with Nutt’s situation because the former MSU quarterback knew his tenure in Starkville would come to a end.
“Anytime you’re in this business you learn what goes around does come around,” Felker said. “My situation was so many years ago it’s hard to remember specifics, but it was tough knowing the pressure was on me to win in 1990. It’s a tough process for a coach’s family.”
Mullen is 2-0 against Ole Miss. The game Saturday will be at Davis Wade Stadium, where Mullen became one of three coaches to win his first Egg Bowl matchup.
“We haven’t changed our tune since the day I took this job,” Mullen said. “We’ve been consistent with that’s how we approach the rivalry and how we approach this game. It’s not just football. … You want to win that competition, I don’t care if it’s the debate teams. I want to go beat them in debate. You want to win that competition whatever it is you’re going to go do.”
Nutt won his first Egg Bowl matchup in 2008 with a 45-0 blowout that paved the way for the end of Sylvester Croom’s tenure as MSU coach. However, Nutt admits it took the loss in Starkville and 31-23 defeat at home last year for him to realize how important the game is to people in the Magnolia state. If he wins Saturday, he’ll join MSU’s Ralph Sasse (1937) and Ole Miss’ David Cutcliffe (2004) as the only coaches to win the Egg Bowl game in their final game at that school.
“All it takes is one loss against them,” Mullen said. “Then you understand the importance of it much better. I understand it fully. We understand the emphasis that needs to be put on this game 100 percent.”
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