STARKVILLE — Few coaches are as familiar with the Ole Miss-Mississippi State rivalry as Bulldogs interim head coach Greg Knox.
Knox’s first taste of coaching in the Southeastern Conference came in Oxford, where he spent four years as the Rebels’ wide receivers coach in the late 1990s. Following a 10-year stint in the same role at Auburn, Knox became the running backs coach at MSU under Dan Mullen, spending nine seasons in Starkville.
Thursday will be Knox’s 14th time coaching in the Egg Bowl, but his first as a head coach. Although he grew up in Texas and played his college football in Oklahoma, Knox understands what this game means as well as anyone.
“They know the importance of it. It’s been building since the end of the game Saturday,” Knox said. “It’s Mississippi kids going against each other. They know each other, they’ve played against each other. It’s challenging. One thing about this game (is) you can take the records and you can throw them out. It doesn’t matter if you’ve won one game or you’ve won 10.”
Ole Miss leads the all-time series 64-47 with six ties, but since the teams began playing at campus sites rather than in Jackson in 1991, it’s the Bulldogs who hold a 17-15 edge. That includes a 24-22 win last year on the road in which the Rebels completed a 99-yard touchdown drive with less than two minutes remaining, but failed on the potential game-tying two-point conversion.
MSU (5-6, 1-6 SEC) has 53 players from the Magnolia State on its roster, nearly twice as many as Ole Miss’ 28. Among those is senior quarterback Will Rogers, who grew up a Rebels fan in Louisville and Brandon but will be starting his fourth Egg Bowl for the Bulldogs on Thursday night.
“Will stood up in that locker room (after Saturday’s game) and he made it clear to everyone, whether you’re a Mississippi kid or not, come Monday, we’re getting ready to go,” Knox said. “The Mississippi kids on our roster, they know, they understand. This is why they came to Mississippi State; for this game. This game has been marked on the calendar, and they’re ready.”
Watson, Ferrie win SEC weekly honors
Linebacker and co-captain Nathaniel “Bookie” Watson was named co-SEC Defensive Player of the Week after racking up 21 tackles and a strip-sack in MSU’s 41-20 win over Southern Miss. It was the second such honor this season for Watson, who recorded 14 tackles and two sacks in a win at Arkansas on Oct. 21.
Kicker Kyle Ferrie was named SEC Freshman of the Week for the second time this year after making all four of his field goal attempts, including two from 40-plus yards, against the Golden Eagles. He was previously honored in his collegiate debut, when he nailed field goals of 47 and 49 yards against Southeastern Louisiana.
Scouting Ole Miss
The Rebels (9-2, 5-2) would secure just their second 10-win regular season in program history with a victory Thursday night, and their only losses have come on the road against Alabama and Georgia, who are both unbeaten in SEC play. Quarterback Jaxson Dart has been both explosive and accurate, completing a shade under two-thirds of his passes for 2,889 yards and 19 touchdowns against just five interceptions.
“I’ve watched him throughout the season, and he’s very confident in what he’s doing,” Knox said. “He plays with a sense of maturity, he throws the ball well, he knows where he wants to go with it. He’s a complete package. When the protection breaks down, he can run. I like his style, I like his attitude. He’s the key to their offense.”
With Dart at the controls, Ole Miss is averaging 36.5 points per game, and he has a trio of dynamic, playmaking receivers at his disposal. Tre Harris, with 824 receiving yards and eight touchdowns, is the cream of the crop, but Dayton Wade and Jordan Watkins are right up there with him. Running back Quinshon Judkins, meanwhile, is on his way to another 1,000-yard season and has found the end zone 14 times.
Defensively, the Rebels are strong up front with pass rushers Jared Ivey and Cedric Johnson, and they also have some ball hawks in the back end — Trey Washington and John Saunders Jr. each have three interceptions, and as a team Ole Miss is tied for first in the SEC with 12 picks.
“They play with great tempo and they put points on the board,” Knox said. “We have to have ourselves ready to go.”
Five keys to victory for Mississippi State:
Keep the defense on the sidelines
Against the Rebels’ high-powered, quick-strike offense, the best defense is to hold onto the ball as much as possible. Ole Miss has a pair of strong pass rushers in Ivey and Johnson, so MSU’s offensive line will need to contain them to open holes for Jo’Quavious “Woody” Marks, Seth Davis and Jeffery Pittman.
The Bulldogs are among the 10 worst FBS teams in third down conversion rate at just 30.3 percent, in part because they have so often put themselves behind the sticks with negative plays or penalties on early downs. Setting up manageable third downs, then converting them, will be crucial to keep Dart and his receivers off the field.
Take care of the football
This goes right along with winning the time of possession battle, but turning the ball over would be an easy way to lose that advantage. Ole Miss is plus-nine for the season in turnover margin, tied for 11th nationally. That means Rogers may not be able to get away with many missed throws and his receivers may not be able to get away with dropped passes, as they did last week against Southern Miss.
Limit the big play
Harris, Wade and Watkins have all recorded more than 700 yards and are capable of stretching the field at any time. MSU’s secondary struggled to contain star wideouts early in conference play like LSU’s Malik Nabers and South Carolina’s Xavier Legette, but the Ole Miss trio might be the Bulldogs’ greatest challenge yet. MSU already operates in a 3-3-5 base defense, but putting extra defensive backs on the field to take away the deep ball could serve the Bulldogs well.
Let Bookie and Jett go out with a bang
Veteran linebackers Watson and Jett Johnson will be playing their final game at Davis Wade Stadium, and both are coming off career days in the Southern Miss game. Judkins is among the SEC’s leading rushers, but if MSU’s defensive line can win its matchups in the trenches, Watson and Johnson can roam free behind them and rack up tackles.
Stay composed
This is the Egg Bowl, after all, where chaos often reigns supreme. These games have frequently featured extracurricular activity, flaring tempers and unpredictable outcomes. In 2018, every player on both teams was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after a brawl broke out at the end of the third quarter. The following year, Ole Miss may have cost itself the game when receiver Elijah Moore was flagged for impersonating a dog urinating in the end zone after scoring a touchdown, and the Rebels missed the ensuing would-be game-tying extra point that was pushed back 15 yards.
The Bulldogs are heavy underdogs this year but still have a lot to play for, namely bowl eligibility, and they can ill-afford to be called for unsportsmanlike conduct and unnecessary roughness penalties. Discipline is a must for MSU.
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