Ole Miss survives Mississippi State in Egg Bowl 2024. What’s next for Rebels, Bulldogs?
Mississippi State threw everything it had Friday at Ole Miss, converting twice on fourth down and converting multiple deep shots against the Rebels’ defense. Ole Miss, though, wouldn’t be denied.
Ole Miss tailback Ulysses Bentley IV raced through the Bulldogs’ defense for an 89-yard touchdown and JJ Pegues capped a sterling career with a short touchdown run as the Rebels kept their faint playoff hopes alive with a 26-14 victory in the 2024 playing of the Egg Bowl at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford.
“On that play call I knew the guard was pulling and once I saw that hole and hit it in the inside I knew, you know I’m fast so ain’t nobody catching me,” Bentley said of his scoring run. “Once I hit it I just knew I was gone at that point.”
The Rebels’ defense came up big time and time again, intercepting MSU quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. twice and recovering a fumbled punt late in the third quarter. After giving up 14 points in the first quarter, the Rebels’ defense held the Bulldogs scoreless the rest of the way, including a late goal-line stand where Mississippi State had first-and-goal from the Rebels’ 1-yard line and a chance to make it a one-score game.
The Ole Miss offense, after five consecutive scoreless drives, put the game out of reach with a field goal late in the third quarter and a 19-yard touchdown pass from Jaxson Dart to Caden Prieskorn. After taking over with 5:46 remaining in the game, the Ole Miss offense kept the ball the rest of the game, picking up 4 first downs before finishing the game in the victory formation.
“Obviously, as you guys know, it’s a huge game,” said Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin. “It’s State and it’s hard for players or coaches to really understand until you get here to witness it yourself. Now, being in five of them, I understand that.”
What’s next for Ole Miss?
Ole Miss (9-3, 5-3) can sit back, watch Saturday’s games and hope for chaos among the teams ahead of the Rebels in the college football playoff rankings.
The Rebels face three problems:
- They likely didn’t earn any style points with the narrow victory over a Mississippi State team that finished winless in Southeastern Conference play,
- There are two teams ahead of Ole Miss among the teams angling for a college football playoff berth, Clemson and Alabama (which holds a head-to-head victory over Ole Miss).
- The Clemson-South Carolina game. If Clemson wins, it will likely remain ahead of the Rebels in the rankings. If South Carolina wins, the Gamecocks will have an argument to move in front of the Rebels.
“We are the team that showed we can beat anybody. My pitch (to the committee) is that you look at the conferences and you look at the schedule. Obviously, we slipped up some games and did things we were not supposed to do and that is going to bite us, but I definitely think without a doubt that we are one of the best teams in the country,” Dart said.
Regardless, the Rebels’ season will continue, either with a playoff or bowl game.
What’s next for Mississippi State
The Bulldogs (2-10, 0-8) struggled with a brutal SEC schedule in 2024 and that won’t change in 2025, as the conference slate remains the same, but with the game sites reversed. So Mississippi State will face Florida, Texas, Georgia, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri and Ole Miss.
The Bulldogs do appear to have found their quarterback for the future, as Van Buren stood toe-to-toe with the nationally ranked Ole Miss defense and kept the Bulldogs in the game for four quarters. The freshman finished with 280 yards passing and one touchdown, along with a handful of big plays.
“A ton of toughness, the guy plays the game the way you want him to play,” MSU coach Jeff Lebby said of Van Buren. “There are so many things throughout that game that give us a chance for a different outcome. If we play a little cleaner, if we execute a little cleaner, if we do some things a little differently. So there are frustrating moments. I do think with him being as young as he is playing against people that he is having to play against, there is going to be incredible growth from this for him.”
This story was originally published November 29, 2024 at 6:11 PM.