STARKVILLE — The 122nd Egg Bowl featured far more positive performances for the visiting Ole Miss Rebels in Davis Wade Stadium on Black Friday, but there was still plenty to dig into for one last look at Mississippi State in the 2025 season.

The Bulldogs finished the year 5-7, falling short of bowl eligibility for the second time in two years under head coach Jeff Lebby. It was a performance that highlighted many of MSU’s persistent weaknesses, but also offered a look at what the team has going into 2026.

Here are some of the standout performers and statistics from the Egg Bowl loss to Ole Miss.

Kamario Taylor: 15-31 passing for 178 yards and 1 INT, 20 carries for 173 yards and 2 TDs

The SEC Freshman of the Week made his mark, even in a losing effort.

There was no doubt that the Noxubee County product would be the future of MSU’s program, but his first start under center made it clear to everyone that he was the present as well. He led an opening-drive touchdown, running it in himself to answer Ole Miss’ early score, and wound up leading the team in rushing with a healthy dose of designed runs and improvisational scrambles out of pressure.

The most significant moment came in the fourth quarter as Taylor escaped three would-be sackers in the backfield to go on a 35-yard scamper through the heart of the Ole Miss defense, putting one final juke in for good measure before crossing the goal line with a defender on his back.

Taylor is the future, but he is also a statement player at present to build around as Lebby turns his attention to signing day and the transfer portal.

Pass Rush: Ole Miss – 3 sacks, 7 QB hurries

Mississippi State – 0 sacks, 2 QB hurries

Taylor’s ability to escape and create proved helpful for MSU in a number of ways, and the biggest one was reducing the sack number.

And yet, Ole Miss still recorded three sacks.

Blake Shapen ends the regular season as the sixth most sacked quarterback in FBS, with opposing rushers taking him down 34 times in 11 starts. Taylor has been sacked six times in his time under center, taking the total to 40 for the season. Sacks count as a quarterback statistic for a reason, and Shapen certainly wore some of those himself, but the Bulldogs were consistently beaten in the trenches this season.

That applies to the other side of the ball as well.

MSU’s defense registered just two pressures on Trinidad Chambliss. Will Whitson, whose season ended after just 1 ½ games, finished the year tied for second in sacks with two. Linebacker Nic Mitchell leads the team with just 2.5 sacks.

That lack of pressure has been a costly weakness for MSU’s front seven, and it quickly snowballed defensively as the secondary struggled to keep up with the consequences.

MSU Defense: 545 total yards allowed, 7.3 yards/play, 13 big plays for 336 yards

This was the fourth game in a row where an opposing running back ran for more than 100 yards, and the seventh SEC game where an opponent scored more than 30 points against the Bulldogs.

The lack of a pass rush or run-stopping force in the front seven was only part of the problem, but it fed into what was one of the worst games for defending the pass.

Chambliss, who threw for 359 yards and four touchdowns on Friday, had all day to pick apart the Bulldog secondary. Four different players had a reception for 20 or more yards, and an 88-yard strike to Deuce Alexander served as the final dagger to put MSU down for good in the fourth quarter. 

Friday marked the second time this season an opponent surpassed 500 yards of offense against MSU, and the Bulldogs have allowed more than 400 yards of offense in every SEC game this season

Fluff Bothwell: 17 carries for 80 yards

With Davon Booth out for the first half, Fluff was the lone back, and had by far his best game on the ground since his 134 yards and two touchdowns against Tennessee back in September.

Part of the low production was due to his return from injury, which saw him miss games against Florida and Texas, but Bothwell and Booth both struggled behind a poor offensive line in games where the Bulldogs had to throw to stay alive.

Bothwell was back to a high workload of 17 carries, and averaged 4.7 yards per carry with a long run of 43 yards in the second quarter to help kickstart a field-goal drive. It wasn’t a return to the standard he set in the first SEC game against the Vols, but it was a positive first look at a backfield with both Taylor and Bothwell.

The quarterback’s running threat not only helped negate some plays that would have been near-certain sacks with Blake Shapen under center, it also forced the defense to respect multiple outcomes on run-pass options and question whether a play would be a handoff or keeper.