Ole Miss-State Renew Rivalry in 80th Egg Bowl

EGG BOWL: Ole Miss (3-8, 0-7) vs. Mississippi State (6-5, 3-4)

DATE: Friday, November 23, 2007

TIME: 11:30 a.m. CT

SITE (CAPACITY): Davis Wade Stadium/Scott Field (55,082); Starkville, Miss.

TV: Lincoln Financial (Dave Neal, play-by-play; Dave Archer, color analyst; Dave Baker, sideline reporter). A replay of the game will be available on OleMissSports.com, Saturday at 11 p.m., and on CSS, Sunday at 1 p.m.

RADIO: Ole Miss Radio Network (David Kellum, play-by-play; Pete Cordelli, color analyst; Stan Sandroni, sideline reporter). XM Satellite Radio channel 231. Listen Online

POLLS: Neither Ole Miss nor Mississippi State appear in the top-25 rankings.

SERIES INFO: This game will be the 104th meeting of one of the nation's most-played rivalries. Ole Miss holds a 59-38-6 advantage in the series dating back to 1901. The Ole Miss-Mississippi State series is tied with the North Carolina-Wake Forest series for the 16th longest in NCAA Division I-A history. The rivalry is also listed as the 10th longest uninterrupted series, as the NCAA considers Friday's game the 92nd consecutive year that the two schools have faced each other. Neither team, however, fielded a squad in 1943 due to World War II. Friday's game will be the 80th "Battle of the Golden Egg," as the two schools started playing for the trophy in 1927. Ole Miss holds a 53-21-5 advantage in the "Egg Bowl." The home team has won seven of the last eight games. Ole Miss has taken four of the last five in the series, including last year's 20-17 triumph in Oxford. The series is tied at 8-8 in the last 16 meetings since the series returned to campus sites in 1991, after being played yearly in Jackson from 1973-1990. The Rebels hold a 20-10-3 advantage in games played in Starkville.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Senior RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis has topped the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the second straight year ... He is averaging 92.7 yards per game with four 100-yard games ... QB Brent Schaeffer and WR Shay Hodge have connected for TDs in back-to-back games ... Sophomore DE Greg Hardy ranks third in the nation in both sacks (1.11 pg) and TFLs (2.00 pg) ... For the first time since 2000, the Bulldogs enter the Egg Bowl with a better overall record than the Rebels ... Ole Miss is looking to avoid its first winless SEC season since 1982 ... This will mark the Rebels' fifth TV appearance of the year and third on Lincoln Financial.

OLE MISS HEAD COACH ED ORGERON: Ed Orgeron (Northwestern State, 1984) is in his third season as the Ole Miss head coach, having been hired on Dec. 16, 2004. He has a career coaching record of 10-24. Ole Miss is Orgeron's first career head coaching position, although he possesses over 20 years of college coaching experience, most recently as an assistant head coach on USC's 2003 and 2004 national champion teams. Orgeron is 1-1 against Mississippi State as a head coach.

MISSISSIPPI STATE HEAD COACH SYLVESTER CROOM: Sylvester Croom is in his fourth season as the head coach at Mississippi State. He has led the Bulldogs to a 15-30 record, in this his first career head coaching assignment. Prior to taking the position at Mississippi State, Croom spent three seasons from 2001-2003 as an assistant coach with the Green Bay Packers. Croom also served on NFL coaching staffs with Tampa Bay (1987-1990), Indianapolis (1991) and San Diego (1992-1996). Croom started his coaching career as a graduate assistant on Paul "Bear" Bryant's staff at Alabama in 1976. He then served as an assistant for the Crimson Tide from 1977-1986. Croom is 1-2 versus the Rebels.

MISSISSIPPI STATE SCOUTING REPORT: With SEC victories over Auburn, Kentucky and Alabama, the Bulldogs are bowl eligible for the first time since 2000. State is coming off a 45-31 loss to Arkansas Saturday in Little Rock. The MSU offense averages 140.3 rushing yards and 168.0 passing yards per game. Sophomore RB Anthony Dixon directs the ground game with 954 yards and an SEC-high 13 TDs. True freshman QB Wesley Carroll has settled in at signal-caller and completed 113-of-209 passes for 1,223 yards with eight TDs and five interceptions. Senior Tony Burks and junior Jamayel Smith lead the receiving corps with 30 catches for 418 yards and 28 for 455, respectively. The Bulldogs rank fifth in the conference in both total defense (343.3 ypg) and pass defense (188.3 ypg). Jamar Chaney is the top tackler with 73 total stops, while fellow junior LB Dominic Douglas has recorded 69 tackles with eight TFLs. Senior DL Titus Brown is among the SEC leaders with 12 TFLs and eight sacks, and sophomore DB Anthony Johnson boasts three interceptions and eight pass break-ups. Junior K Adam Carlson has converted 8-of-11 field goals and 30-of-31 PATs.

THE START OF THE GOLDEN EGG: The Golden Egg was first proposed by members of Sigma Iota, an Ole Miss honorary society in 1927. Sigma Iota proposed that a trophy be awarded in a dignified ceremony designed to calm excited fans, after Ole Miss fans stormed the field at Starkville's Scott Field following the Rebels' 7-6 win in the 1926 contest.

The 1926 win snapped a 13-game losing streak to then Mississippi A&M, and was just Ole Miss' fifth win in 23 tries. Following the game, Ole Miss fans made a dash for the goal posts, while Aggie fans took after them with cane bottom chairs and fights broke out. The mayhem continued until most of the chairs were splintered.

After Sigma Iota made its proposal, Mississippi A&M approved the suggestion, and Ole Miss, two weeks before the game, officially added its approval. The trophy, to be called "The Golden Egg," would be a regulation-size gold-plated football mounted on a pedestal. Cost approximately $250 would be shared by both schools.

On Thanksgiving Day, 1927, the first "Battle of the Golden Egg" was waged before a crowd of 14,000 in Oxford. The Rebels won 20-12 and the symbol of supremacy in the series was born.

ORIGINS OF THE NAME: The term "Egg Bowl" can be traced back to 1978, when Executive Sports Editor of the Clarion-Ledger Tom Patterson decided to spice up the 1978 meeting. A year earlier, the Clarion-Ledger headline on game day had been "Egg Bowl Is Up For Scramble," and the following day it was "Egg Bowl 77: State 18, Ole Miss 14." With the Rebels 4-6 and the Bulldogs 6-4 and apparently out of the bowl picture heading into the 1978 game, Patterson instructed his staff to follow the "Egg Bowl" theme throughout the week. The result was an award winning special section on Sunday, which recounted in great detail the Rebels' stunning 27-7 victory over the heavily-favored Bulldogs. While the game is still officially the "Battle of the Golden Egg," most members of the of the media now refer to the annual game simply as the "Egg Bowl."

"EGG BOWL" FACT: After being played on the Saturday following Thanksgiving the last two seasons, the "Egg Bowl" will be played the Friday after the holiday this year. From 1998 through 2003, the game was played on Thanksgiving Night and was televised nationally by ESPN. The two teams split those six meetings on Thanksgiving, with the Rebels winning the last two, 24-12 in 2002 in Oxford and 31-0 in 2003 in Starkville.

SENIOR FAREWELL: This game versus Mississippi State will mark the final appearance in a Rebel uniform for the 17 seniors on this year's team. The members of this year's senior class are: OL Corey Actis, QB Seth Adams, K Christian Albarracin, DB Nate Banks, OL Marcus Cohen, DL Viciente DeLoach, OL Thomas Eckers, P Ryan Favret, DL Jeremy Garrett, RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis, RB Bruce Hall, OL Darryl Harris, TE Robert Hough, DL Brandon Jenkins, TE Robert Lane, QB Brent Schaeffer and WR Josh Zettergren.

HOMEGROWN TALENT: The Ole Miss roster features 37 players from the Magnolia state. Those Mississippi natives in the Red and Blue include WR Chris Adams (Oxford), QB Seth Adams (Holly Springs), K-DB Christian Albarracin (Corinth), DB Jamariey Atterberry (Kosciusko), DB Nate Banks (Liberty), OL Zack Brent (Oxford), OL Will Briscoe (Tupelo), DB Johnny Brown (Charleston), OL Marcus Cohen (Clarksdale), WR William Cole (Oxford), RB Derrick Davis (Meridian), DE Viciente DeLoach (Columbus), WR Billy Dobbs (Amory), RB Cordera Eason (Meridian), OL Thomas Eckers (West Point), K Martin Fisher (Greenwood), DL Jeremy Garrett (Senatobia), OL Darryl Harris (Clarksdale), RB Reggie Hicks (Madison), WR Shay Hodge (Morton), TE Robert Hough (Jackson), DB Jamison Hughes (Oxford), DB Terrell Jackson (Puckett), OL John Jerry (Batesville), DL Peria Jerry (Batesville), TE Jared Jungles (Brandon), WR Jacarious Lucas (Cleveland), OL Reid Neely (Jackson), DB Jamarca Sanford (Batesville), OL Brent Smith (Madison), OL Bradley Sowell (Hernando), LB Chris Strong (Batesville), WR Markeith Summers (Olive Branch), DL Marcus Tillman (McCall Creek), TE David Traxler (Jackson), LB Allen Walker (Olive Branch) and WR Josh Zettergren (Senatobia).

REBTALK MOVES TO TUESDAY: Ole Miss head coach Ed Orgeron's weekly call-in radio show, Reb Talk, moves next week from its usual Thursday slot to Tuesday from 7 to 8 p.m. CT due to the Thanksgiving holiday. The show, which is hosted by David Kellum, will also be aired from the press box, rather than the Oxford-University Club.

REBEL NOTEBOOK
The crowd of 61,118 at the home finale against LSU was the fourth-largest in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium history.
Ole Miss is 0-7 in SEC play for the first time in program history .. The Rebels have gone winless in conference play five times, most recently in 1982 when the team played only six league games and finished the league slate 0-6.
The Rebel football program is three wins short of 600 ... Ole Miss boasts an all-time record of 597-459-35 (.566 winning percentage).
This is the 113th football season at The University of Mississippi dating back to 1893 ... Ole Miss did not field teams in 1897 due to an epidemic of yellow fever, and also in 1943 when football was abolished at all Mississippi state-supported institutions by the Board of Trustees.

DEBUTS: A total of 25 players have made their Ole Miss debuts this year, including nine true freshmen in Colby Arceneaux (DB), Lionel Breaux (DB), Johnny Brown (DB), Fon Ingram (DB), Ted Laurent (DL), Lawon Scott (DL), Chris Strong (LB), LaDerrick Vaughn (DE) and Scottie Williams (LB). Other players seeing their first action this fall include Christian Albarracin (Sr., K); Ben Benedetto (RFr., DL) Lamar Brumfield (So., LB); Derrick Davis (RFr., RB); David Densmore (RFr., DL); Tony Fein (Jr., LB); George Helow (RFr., DB), Reggie Hicks (RFr., RB); Kentrell Lockett (RFr., DL); Jacarious Lucas (Jr., WR), Ashlee Palmer (Jr., LB); Jamie Phillips (So., LB); Justin Sparks (So., P); Markeith Summers (RFr., DB); Allen Walker (RFr., LB) and Josh Zettergren (Sr., WR).

CAPTAINS: Serving as team captains for the LSU were BenJarvus Green-Ellis (Sr., RB), Robert Lane (Sr., TE) and Jamarca Sanford (Jr., DB).

1,000 AGAIN: With 53 yards against LSU, senior RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis has topped the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the second straight season with 1,020 yards. He is only the second player in school history to reach the 1,000-yard single-season mark twice in his career, joining Kayo Dottley (1949 and 1950). Green-Ellis is on pace to finish the year with 1,113 yards, which would be the second-highest single-season total in school history behind Dottley's 1,312 in 1949. Green-Ellis is sixth on the career list with 2,020 yards.

ONE-MAN SHOW: Senior QB Brent Schaeffer put on a total offensive display against the top-ranked Tigers Saturday and turned in a career performance. Despite playing only three quarters, Schaeffer came off the bench to rush for 94 yards and throw for 208 both career highs. He completed 13-of-28 passes with two interceptions and a 33-yard TD toss to Shay Hodge, making consecutive games for the duo to hook up for a score. As part of some fourth-quarter heroics, Schaeffer tossed the TD and rushed for another for his first scoring run since his Rebel debut in the 2006 season opener against Memphis.

2,000 IN SITE: With 1,979 passing yards this season, senior QB Seth Adams needs just 21 more in the Egg Bowl to become the seventh player in school history to reach the 2,000-yard plateau in a season. The feat has been reached nine times by a Rebel passer, most recently Eli Manning in 2003. This year, Adams has registered five 200-yard games and the Rebels' first two 300-yard outings since 2004.

OTHER OFFENSIVE NOTES
Ole Miss' 466 yards of total offense, 265 through the air and 201 on the ground were all the most surrendered this year by LSU, who came in leading the nation in total defense ... The Rebels outgained the Tigers in total offense, 466 to 396.
Sophomore WR Shay Hodge hauled in four passes for 90 yards with his fifth TD of the year against LSU ... He has hauled in scoring tosses from Brent Schaeffer in consecutive games ... Hodge tops Ole Miss in receptions with 41.
Starting for the second straight game on Saturday, sophomore WR Dexter McCluster topped the team in receptions with five for 73 yards ... He has caught at least two passes in each game since his return seven games ago.
Junior Mike Wallace had his streak of 21 straight games with a catch come to an end Saturday ... Despite no receptions against the Tigers, Wallace still ranks eighth in the SEC in receiving yards per game at 64.3, and he leads the league in yards per catch at 19.1.
Senior QB Seth Adams posted season lows in completions and passing yards in the LSU game, finishing 4-of-11 for 57 yards with an interception.
Senior RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis has posted four 100-yard games this season and eight in his career ... Green-Ellis ranks fourth in the SEC rushing at 92.7 yards per game.
The Ole Miss offense posted its second-most yards of the season against Alabama with 420.
The Rebels' 534 total yards against Missouri was the most in the Ed Orgeron era, and the most since 567 total yards against Wyoming in 2004 ... It also marked the first time since the 2004 Wyoming game that Ole Miss has had a 100-yard rusher (BenJarvus Green-Ellis, 226) and 100-yard receiver (Mike Wallace, 136).

BACK IN THE BACKFIELD: After missing two games, sophomore DL Greg Hardy picked up where he left off Saturday, terrorizing the backfield. Hardy notched two sacks against LSU, giving him three games this year with multiple QB sacks, 10.0 total sacks and 18.0 tackles for loss. Hardy tops the SEC and ranks third in the NCAA in both sacks (1.11 pg) and TFLs (2.00 pg) and is also the conference leader in forced fumbles (0.33 pg).

PERIA ON THE PROWL: Junior DL Peria Jerry has been a force of late, totaling 10.0 TFLs and 39 total tackles in the last seven games. Facing top-ranked LSU, Jerry equaled his career highs of eight tackles and six solos, including one TFL and a pass break-up. He is fifth in the SEC in TFLs with 13.5.

OTHER DEFENSIVE NOTES
Junior DB Jamarca Sanford led the unit Saturday with 10 total tackles ... Sanford has 34 stops in the last three games and has reached double-digit stops in five games.
Sophomore DB Cassius Vaughn was credited with a career-best seven solo stops against LSU.
The Rebel defense recorded its first shutout under Ed Orgeron against Louisiana Tech and first since the 2003 regular-season finale at Mississippi State (31-0).
In the win over Memphis, the Rebels intercepted four passes for the first time since the 2004 Wyoming game ... Ole Miss totaled three interceptions the entire 2006 season.

POINTS FROM EVERYWHERE: The Rebels have had five TDs this year that were not scored on offense a punt return against LSU (Marshay Green), a kickoff return against Northwestern State (Mike Wallace), a blocked field goal return against Louisiana Tech (Dustin Mouzon), and an interception return (Mouzon) and blocked punt recovery (Kendrick Lewis) against Memphis.

STREAKING SHENE: Sophomore K Joshua Shene has been perfect the last three games, nailing all three field goals and eight extra points. After missing the lone PAT of his career in the season opener at Memphis, Shene has converted 21 consecutive attempts and is 42-of-43 in his career. He has connected on 11-of-16 FGs this year and leads the team in scoring with 55 points.

SPECIALTY NOTES
Ole Miss had a return for a TD for the second consecutive game ... After Mike Wallace took a kickoff back 77 yards for a score against Northwestern State, Marshay Green returned a punt 44 yards for a TD in the LSU game ... It marked Green's second career punt return for score (Mississippi State, 2006).
With Trindon Holliday's 98-yard return in the first quarter, Ole Miss allowed a kickoff return for a TD for the first time since last year's Arkansas game (Felix Jones, 100 yards).

BLOCK PARTY: Ole Miss has blocked three kicks this year two punts and one field goal. Against Alabama, junior DB Dustin Mouzon broke free for the first punt block of his career in the third quarter. The ball bounced out of bounds at the Alabama eight yardline to set up a Rebel TD. Mouzon was also active on special teams against Louisiana Tech. Under three minutes left in the game, senior DL Brandon Jenkins registered his first career block on a Bulldog 37-yard FG attempt, and Mouzon recovered and returned it 55 yards for the TD. In addition, the Rebels scored on special teams in the opener at Memphis, blocking a punt for a TD for the first time since 1995. Junior DB Jamarca Sanford got his first career block, and sophomore DB Kendrick Lewis recovered it in the end zone for his first TD. The Rebels have blocked eight kicks in Ed Orgeron's three years as Ole Miss coach.

MORE MOUZON: Junior DB Dustin Mouzon has not taken an offensive snap this year but has two TDs. Against Louisiana Tech, Mouzon scored on special teams when he recovered a blocked field goal and jetted 55 yards for the touchdown. In the opener against Memphis, he reached pay dirt on defense, returning an interception 99 yards for a TD. It tied the third-longest interception return in school history and was the longest by a Rebel since Louis Guy's 103-yard return in 1962. Mouzon finished the Memphis game with two picks, six solo stops and a fumble recovery in earning SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors. He became the first Rebel with two interceptions in the same game since Von Hutchins against Arkansas State in 2002, and Mouzon is first to earn weekly honors by the league since LB Rory Johnson following last year's Vanderbilt game.

SCHEDULE NOTES
Ole Miss has faced four top-25 foes ... The Rebels lost to No. 3 Florida 30-24 in Oxford, No. 15 Georgia 45-17 in Athens, No. 23 Auburn 17-3 on the Plains and No. 1 LSU 41-24 in Oxford.
Ole Miss has matched up with seven teams that went to bowl games last year, including BSC national Champion Florida. In addition, the Rebels encounter Missouri (Sun), Georgia (Peach), Alabama (Independence), Arkansas (Capitol One), Auburn (Cotton) and LSU (Sugar).
For the second straight year, Ole Miss played seven home games, hosting Missouri (Sept. 8), Florida (Sept. 22), Louisiana Tech (Oct. 6), Alabama (Oct. 13), Arkansas (Oct. 20), Northwestern State (Nov. 3) and LSU (Nov. 17).

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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