THE EGG BOWL

ALL-TIME SERIES RECORD: Ole Miss leads 62-43-5

LAST 10: A 5-5 split between the two teams. State won 3 in a row from 2009-11, while Ole Miss won 2 in a row from 2014-15. The two teams have split the last two meetings.

You don’t have to be too in the know to know how much Ole Miss Rebels fans loathe Mississippi State Bulldogs fans and vice versa. The hotly contested Egg Bowl is oftentimes a treat in many ways, but this season it certainly represents something different.

Ole Miss is a team that’s still in transition. The Rebels aren’t going to the postseason this year thanks to NCAA violations, and the team itself has been very hot and cold. The high-flying offense is matched by a porous defense that has been susceptible to some very, very bad days.

Mississippi State, meanwhile, also finds themselves in transition. But they’re doing it a bit better than their nemesis from Oxford. State, in their first year under Joe Moorhead, is going bowling and is in the Top 20 of the CFB Playoff Rankings. Their defense is elite and the offense has been fine. Nothing more, nothing less.

Ole Miss certainly has the opportunity to spoil the fun for State. That’s pretty much their best-case scenario. Apart from A.J. Brown going off, which hey, you never know. He COULD, considering the talent that the Starkville native possesses. After all, he just had 212 receiving yards against the Vanderbilt Commodores last week, on the heels of a 127-yard performance vs. the Texas A&M Aggies the week before, 115 vs. the South Carolina Gamecocks and 155 against the Auburn Tigers five weeks ago. If you get the picture: Brown is REALLY, really good. And this may be the last we see of him in college, so we’ll see if he can wrap up his career with the Rebels on a high note.

The Bulldogs don’t possess the receiver talent that Ole Miss does by any means, but their running backs certainly get the job done. Kylin Hill and Aeris Williams have combined for nearly 1,000 yards this season and Hill has 583 of those rushing yards. But of course, Nick Fitzgerald leads the way with 901 on the ground with 10 rushing touchdowns. Fitzgerald is a dual-threat by the book, with 14 passing touchdowns and just 1,504 passing yards. He may have a chance to get it going this week since Ole Miss’ defense is as porous as it gets. But the Rebels will absolutely have to account for what he brings to the table on the ground.

Whatever the case, someone’s Turkey Day is going to be spoiled tomorrow night. Who will it be? Tune in to find out.