Mississippi State (5-6, 1-6 Southeastern Conference) hosts No. 12 Ole Miss (9-2, 5-2) in the Egg Bowl at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Davis Wade Stadium. Here’s who has the edge at each position between the Bulldogs and the Rebels.
Quarterback
Will Rogers returned for MSU after missing four games with a left shoulder injury and provided stability to the offense, although his numbers last week against Southern Miss were hardly sparkling. Still, his absence left no doubt that Rogers is easily the best quarterback on the Bulldogs’ roster. Jaxson Dart, though, has been stellar for Ole Miss, completing right around two-thirds of his passes for 2,889 yards with 19 touchdowns and only five interceptions.
Edge: Ole Miss
Running back
Jo’Quavious “Woody” Marks also returned last Saturday for MSU, but was not yet back to full strength, with just 34 rushing yards on 12 carries (although he did catch a touchdown pass). Seth Davis and Jeffery Pittman have improved over the course of the season as well. The Rebels enjoy the services of Quinshon Judkins, who has rushed for 933 yards and 14 touchdowns, and their backup running back, Ulysses Bentley IV, is averaging 5.6 yards per carry with four touchdowns of his own.
Edge: Ole Miss
Wide receiver/tight end
MSU’s dynamic playmakers, Lideatrick “Tulu” Griffin, Zavion Thomas and Justin Robinson, have not reached their full potential this season, thanks in part to the Bulldogs’ struggles and inconsistency at quarterback. Still, Griffin and Thomas have breakaway speed and both are more than capable of a big game. Ole Miss has three of the SEC’s best wideouts in Tre Harris, Dayton Wade and Jordan Watkins, all of whom have more than 700 receiving yards and all of whom can stretch the field and ruin a defensive back’s day.
Edge: Ole Miss
Offensive line
Saturday represented a breakthrough of sorts for MSU’s offensive front, which did not allow a sack and paved the way for the Bulldogs to rush for 238 yards while averaging more than five yards per carry. The Rebels allowed three sacks last week against Louisiana-Monroe, and are missing two contributors on the line in Micah Pettus and Jayden Williams. If MSU is to pull off the upset, it starts with taking advantage of Ole Miss’ banged-up offensive line.
Edge: Mississippi State
Defensive line
The Bulldogs were able to win their matchups here against Southern Miss, but doing so in conference games has been a tougher task. Jaden Crumedy, Nathan Pickering and company will be critical in slowing down Dart, Judkins and the Rebels. Ole Miss has two of the better defensive ends in the SEC in Cedric Johnson and Jared Ivey, who have 5.5 sacks apiece.
Edge: Ole Miss
Linebackers
Thursday will be the final game in Davis Wade Stadium for Jett Johnson and Nathaniel “Bookie” Watson, who combined for 39 tackles in the Southern Miss game. Watson leads the SEC in sacks and trails Johnson by one for the conference lead in tackles. The Rebels’ starting linebacking corps of Ashanti Cistrunk, Khari Coleman and Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste has been solid, but nothing approaching Johnson and Watson’s level of production.
Edge: Mississippi State
Secondary
Decamerion Richardson enjoyed his best game of 2023 last week with 12 tackles and two pass breakups, but this is still an MSU group that has been torched by some of the SEC’s best receivers, and only Shawn Preston Jr. has shown an ability to take the ball away. Ole Miss is tied for the conference lead with 12 interceptions, led by Trey Washington and John Saunders Jr. with three each. Daijahn Anthony has seven pass breakups to go along with two picks.
Edge: Ole Miss
Special teams
Bulldogs kicker Kyle Ferrie was named SEC Freshman of the Week after nailing all four of his field goal attempts against Southern Miss, and he is 16-for-20 on the season. Thomas and Griffin remain weapons in the return game. For the Rebels, kicker Caden Davis has a long of 56 but has had two field goals blocked. Watkins returned a punt for a touchdown in the season opener against Mercer.
Edge: Mississippi State
Starters
Mississippi State
Offense
QB 2 Will Rogers Sr.
RB 7 Jo’Quavious Marks Sr.
WR 3 Justin Robinson R-Jr. OR 19 Freddie Roberson R-Sr.
WR 5 Lideatrick Griffin Sr.
WR 1 Zavion Thomas So.
TE 88 Ryland Goede Gr. OR 98 Malik Ellis Fr.
LT 69 Kwatrivous Johnson Gr.
LG 66 Nick Jones Sr.
C 57 Cole Smith Gr.
RG 64 Steven Losoya III R-Sr.
RT 58 Kameron Jones Gr.
Defense
DE 91 Deonte Anderson So.
NG 22 Nathan Pickering Sr.
DT 94 Jaden Crumedy Gr.
SLB 36 Donterry Russell R-Fr.
MLB 14 Nathaniel Watson Gr.
WLB 44 Jett Johnson Gr.
CB 3 Decamerion Richardson Sr.
S 7 Shawn Preston Gr.
S 10 Corey Ellington Jr.
S 1 Marcus Banks Sr.
CB 4 DeCarlos Nicholson Sr.
Special teams
K 80 Kyle Ferrie Fr.
P 83 Keelan Crimmins Fr.
Ole Miss
Offense
QB 2 Jaxson Dart Jr.
RB 4 Quinshon Judkins So.
WR 9 Tre Harris Sr.
WR 19 Dayton Wade Sr.
WR 11 Jordan Watkins Sr.
TE 86 Caden Prieskorn Sr.
LT 71 Jayden Williams So.
LG 67 Quincy McGee Sr.
C 54 Caleb Warren Sr.
RG 78 Jeremy James Sr.
RT 79 Victor Curne Sr.
Defense
DE 89 JJ Pegues Sr.
NT 90 Stephon Wynn Sr. OR 0 Joshua Harris Sr. OR 51 Xzavian Harris So.
DE 15 Jared Ivey Sr.
OLB 2 Cedric Johnson Sr.
MLB 23 Khari Coleman Sr. OR 36 Ashanti Cistrunk Sr.
MLB 11 Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste Sr.
NB 5 John Saunders Sr.
CB 6 Zamari Walton Sr. OR 32 Chris Graves Fr.
SS 3 Daijahn Anthony Sr. OR 16 Teja Young Sr.
FS 25 Trey Washington Jr.
CB 7 Deantre Prince Sr.
Special teams
K 41 Caden Davis Sr.
P 12 Fraser Masin Sr.
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