STARKVILLE — Mississippi State’s defense certainly played well enough for the Bulldogs to win the Egg Bowl on Thursday night. But despite an overall strong performance from quarterback Will Rogers, the offense missed too many opportunities as MSU fell to No. 12 Ole Miss 17-7, sending the Golden Egg trophy back to Oxford.
The Bulldogs finished the season 5-7 with just a 1-7 mark in Southeastern Conference play, while the Rebels improved to 10-2 overall and 6-2 against SEC opponents, winning 10 regular-season games for just the second time in program history.
MSU was shut out in the first half, but Rogers led an effective and efficient drive in the third quarter, completing all four of his pass attempts and ultimately finishing it off with his first rushing touchdown since 2020 to give the Bulldogs the lead. Ole Miss, aided by a targeting penalty against MSU linebacker DeShawn Page, quickly responded to go back ahead for good.
Rogers, in possibly his final game in a Bulldogs uniform, finished 25-of-39 passing for 207 yards to go along with that rushing touchdown.
Takeaways
1. The offense was at times overly conservative, and Rogers too inconsistent. MSU punted on its first six drives of the game before a promising two-minute drill at the end of the first half ended with a missed field goal by Kyle Ferrie. Rogers was just 2-for-6 in the first half when throwing between five and 14 yards downfield, and Jo’Quavious “Woody” Marks was clearly not all the way back to full strength, gaining five yards on six first-half carries.
2. The defense balled out and prevented the big play, at least until late. The Rebels were sitting on just 38 yards of offense after their first four possessions before scoring the game’s first points on a field goal midway through the second quarter. In particular, the Bulldogs contained Ole Miss’ dynamic trio of wide receivers — Tre Harris, Dayton Wade and Jordan Watkins were held to a combined 49 yards on six catches.
After MSU took the lead, though, the Rebels’ offense woke up. Running back Quinshon Judkins put Ole Miss right back in front with a 2-yard touchdown run with inside of five minutes remaining in the third quarter, and quarterback Jaxson Dart connected with a wide-open tight end Caden Prieskorn for a 26-yard score early in the fourth.
3. The most disappointing MSU season in years is (likely) over. Plagued all year by an offense unable to string drives together and a defense that struggled in the back end, the Bulldogs will miss a bowl game for the first time since 2009, save for the unlikely scenario in which they are offered a bid as a five-win team. MSU is already well into a search for its next head coach, who will have the responsibilities of building out a new staff and adding important pieces in the transfer portal, while keeping key young players from this year’s team around.
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