Mississippi State faces one of its toughest opponents of the year on Black Friday, and an opponent that is all too familiar among members of Bulldog nation.
MSU (5-6, 1-6 SEC) faces No. 6 Ole Miss in the 122nd edition of the Egg Bowl rivalry
Here are three keys to victory for the Bulldogs in the Battle for the Golden Egg.
Keep bums in seats
The MSU fans will show up for the Bulldogs, like they have all season. The question is whether they’ll stay.
In games against Tennessee and Texas, the home crowd stayed and remained a factor until the very end of painful defeats. That same energy came in for the game against Georgia, which was over as a contest just three minutes into the second half, and the crowd responded.
By the time the fourth quarter started, there was only a smattering of cowbells left ringing and a gathering collection of students taking part in the shirtless-section trend for losing teams in college football.
If the Bulldogs can avoid that, they’ll have the loud homefield advantage all the way through to the end in a stadium where that very much matters. Having cowbells behind you on key third and fourth downs, adding on to any and all Ole Miss mistakes, and above all, celebrating Bulldog victories is something that will be given at first, but has to be earned to maintain.
Buy time for the passing game
Blake Shapen is the fourth-most sacked quarterback in FBS, going down 34 times in 11 starts this season.
Lebby has avoided a circus around the quarterback position, which made for a pretty quiet off-week, while Ole Miss has had to deal with the national spotlight on their head coach as he entertains offers from rival teams with lesser records.
That in itself does not give MSU an advantage. The only thing that will is improvement on the field, and whether it’s Shapen or Kamario Taylor under center, the Bulldog offense does not tick without getting the ball to playmakers Brenen Thompson and Anthony Evans.
Fans have raised questions about Shapen remaining as the starter, but he is a capable quarterback who can make big throws in big moments. He has to rediscover the form that put his team at 4-0 heading into SEC play, that put MSU within a play of wins over Tennessee, Florida and Texas.
And Shapen isn’t alone in that. He and the rest of the team must shake the most persistent problem with MSU’s 2025 season; finishing games.
Finish
The Bulldogs have had the same problems all year, whether the game got away from them in the first half, second half or overtime.
They have not been able to finish.
In the wake of another SEC loss at Mizzou, Lebby lamented the missed chances that saw the game slip away in the second and third quarters of action. Those words still stand out ahead of the Egg Bowl as Lebby looks to attain his Year Two goals of getting the Golden Egg back and clinching a bowl game berth.
“We’ve got to continue to find ways to create that identity,” Lebby said in Columbia after the defeat. “When you have opportunities, you’ve got to take them against great football teams. Missouri is a really good football team that we need to come in here, not turn it over a single time, and play better against the run than we did. And take advantage of opportunities when we’ve got them. And we didn’t.”
Lebby added that his team has to be “obsessed” in shifting their focus to the team from Oxford, and that obsession has to apply to the details as well if the Bulldogs are to have any chance of an upset.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
