No. 15 Ole Miss hosts Mississippi State in Egg Bowl still nursing slim playoff hopes
Mississippi quarterback Jaxson Dart (2) throws a pass against Florida during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, in Gainesville, Fla. Credit: AP/Phelan M. Ebenhack
Mississippi State (2-9, 0-7 SEC) at No. 15 Mississippi (8-3, 4-3, No. 14 CFP), Friday, 3:30 p.m. EST (ABC)
BetMGM College Football Odds: Ole Miss by 26 1/2.
Series record: Ole Miss leads 65-49-6.
What’s at stake?
The Rebels had hoped an Egg Bowl win would be a ticket to the playoff and perhaps the SEC championship game. Then they lost 24-17 at Florida. Ole Miss does get one last chance to make its case for the playoff and then hope for help. The rivalry means a lot in the Magnolia State regardless. Mississippi State has dual goals of snapping an 11-game SEC losing streak dating back to last season and avoiding its first winless league season since 2002.
Players to watch
Mississippi State S Isaac Smith and LB Stone Blanton. They’re the Bulldogs’ third consecutive defensive pair with 100 tackles each and the SEC’s top two stoppers. Smith has 115 tackles with Blanton vaulting two places to second with 111 after making a career-best 18 stops against Missouri. They rank fourth and ninth nationally and follow Nathaniel Watson and Jett Johnson, All-SEC selections who were among the conference’s top tacklers the previous two seasons.
Ole Miss: QB Jaxson Dart is 49 passing yards shy of Eli Manning’s program record of 10,119. He's leading the FBS in total offense and passing efficiency while ranking third with 3,732 passing yards. But he's coming off a game where he was intercepted on the Rebels' final two drives.
Facts & figures
The last team to outgain Ole Miss was then-No. 1 Georgia in 2023. ... Suntarine Perkins and Princely Umanmielen both have 10.5 sacks, just two shy of the Rebels’ single-season record. ... MSU wideout Kevin Coleman Jr. has caught at least five passes in nine consecutive games and owns a 28-game streak with at least one reception. … Ole Miss DL Walter Nolen is a finalist for the Outland Trophy. ... MSU RB Davon Booth (721 yards rushing) is 79 away from his second consecutive 800-yard season. He ranks eighth in the SEC. … The Bulldogs have 15 touchdown drives in under 2 minutes and 14 in five plays or less.
Mississippi quarterback Jaxson Dart (2) is consoled by offensive lineman Diego Pounds, rear, after throwing an interception late in the second half of an NCAA college football game against Florida, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, in Gainesville, Fla. Credit: AP/Phelan M. Ebenhack
