OXFORD — The talent gap between Mississippi State and Ole Miss was as big as it’s been in many years, but the Bulldogs hung tough for as long as they could Friday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. In the end, though, the Rebels had too much firepower and claimed the Golden Egg trophy for the second straight year with a 26-14 victory.
The game started about as poorly as possible for freshman quarterback Michael Van Buren and the MSU offense. On a third-and-long, Van Buren’s second pass of the day went straight to linebacker Chris Paul Jr., whose return gave Ole Miss the ball on the outskirts of field goal range.
But after one first down, the Bulldogs managed to hold the Rebels to three points, and then MSU used a big play on special teams to help get its offense going. Nick Barr-Mira connected with Justin Ball on a fake punt to move the chains, and on another fourth down, Van Buren found his favorite receiver, Kevin Coleman, on a crossing pattern for a 34-yard touchdown that put the Bulldogs (2-10, 0-8 Southeastern Conference) in front.
Ole Miss (9-3, 5-3) responded with an efficient drive for a touchdown to retake the lead as MSU played deep defensively, trying to prevent the big play, which left the underneath routes open for quarterback Jaxson Dart and company. The Rebels punched it in on a direct snap to defensive lineman JJ Pegues, who barreled into the end zone from five yards out.
Again the Bulldogs had an answer. Van Buren and Coleman connected to convert another third down, and on the next play Van Buren found Jordan Mosley deep down the left sideline. The freshman finished off the drive himself with a 6-yard quarterback keeper to make it 14-10 MSU on the final play of the first quarter.
Both defenses began to settle into a rhythm after that, and the Bulldogs might have led at the half if not for one big play. Ole Miss running back Ulysses Bentley IV found a big hole and sprinted past the secondary untouched for an 89-yard touchdown that put the Rebels back on top by three midway through the second quarter.
Apart from that, it was the best performance of the year, at least in conference play, for the Bulldogs’ defense. Zakari Tillman sacked Dart twice, and MSU set a season high in tackles for loss. But the visitors still made some critical mistakes at inopportune times.
Coleman muffed a punt to give Ole Miss excellent field position, leading to another field goal. And the offense just could not get much of anything going after the first quarter. The Rebels drove 87 yards on 10 plays, capped by a 19-yard pass from Dart to tight end Caden Priescorn, to make it a two-score game for the first time with less than 10 minutes remaining in the fourth.
Van Buren and the Bulldogs weren’t finished — a long pass to Coleman put MSU on the Ole Miss 1-yard line. But with four shots to punch the ball in, the Bulldogs could not do it. Two run plays went nowhere, a quick pass to Seydou Traore canceled out a false start penalty, and then Coleman couldn’t quite bring in a short pass on fourth down.
The Rebels ran out the clock from there, converting a fourth down in the final minute to seal the game.
Takeaways
1. This was MSU’s best defensive performance of the year. Ole Miss is a dangerous offense even without star receiver Tre Harris and top running back Henry Parrish, and the Bulldogs held the Rebels in check for much of the game. They forced field goals twice when Ole Miss started with the ball in plus territory and forced three straight punts to start the second half. It’s been a difficult year for defensive coordinator Coleman Hutzler and his unit, but they showed up against their biggest rivals.
2. Michael Van Buren has loads of potential but still a lot to learn. The freshman hit on several big plays down the field in this game and made good use of his legs at times as well. But his early interception was without a doubt his worst throw of the season, and he let the ball hang in the air too long on another interception early in the second half. As long as MSU is able to retain Van Buren, the future does look promising with him behind center.
3. A critical offseason starts now. Head coach Jeff Lebby has a lot of big decisions to make, starting with the coaching staff. The early signing period is less than a week away, so Lebby’s other top priority is finishing out this 2025 recruiting class, and the Bulldogs will need to add several impact players when the transfer portal opens on Dec. 9. This may have been rock bottom, but that means there’s nowhere to go but up.
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