The University of Mississippi Athletics
Thursday, November 23
Starkville, Miss.
6:30 PM
Ole Miss
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Mississippi State
Game Primer: Football Takes on MSU in Annual Egg Bowl
11/21/2023 | Football
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
• This game will be the 120th meeting in one of the nation's most-played rivalries ... Ole Miss holds a 64-47-6 advantage in the series dating back to 1901, including a 23-15-3 mark in Starkville.
• The original record is 64-49-6 in favor of Ole Miss ... The Rebels had wins in 2012 & 2014 vacated due to NCAA ruling, while Mississippi State forfeited wins in 1976 & 1977.
• Saturday will be the 96th "Battle of the Golden Egg," as the two schools started playing for the trophy in 1927 ... Ole Miss holds a 58-30-5 advantage in the "Egg Bowl."
• According to Ole Miss records, this will be the 32nd time the series has been played on Thanksgiving Day ... Ole Miss holds a 16-14-1 advantage in Thanksgiving games, including a 10-4 mark in games played in Starkville.
• Ole Miss is seeking just its second ever 10-win regular season alongside the 2021 campaign ... Head coach Lane Kiffin is looking to become just the second Rebel coach to chart multiple 10 win seasons alongside John Vaught.
• Ole Miss leads the SEC in both fewest turnovers (7, FBS No. 4) and turnover margin (+9, FBS No. 11).
• RB Quinshon Judkins leads the SEC with 14 rushing touchdowns this year ... He ranks second in Ole Miss career history with 30, third in all-purpose TD (32) and fifth in rushing yards (2,500).
• Judkins leads the SEC in yards after contact at 700, good for 75 percent of his season total (933).
• WR Tre Harris is the only FBS receiver this season with both a 200yd game and a four touchdown performance.
• Ole Miss is 1-of-2 FBS schools w/three 700yd WRs: Harris (824), Jordan Watkins (734) and Dayton Wade (755).
• Since 2020, Ole Miss ranks leads all FBS teams at 501.4 yards per game.
• QB Jaxson Dart is 41 rushing yards shy of becoming the third QB ever at Ole Miss in the 5K/1K club.
BULLDOGS SCOUTING REPORT
Mississippi State stands at 5-6 overall and 1-6 in SEC play. The Bulldogs' best win of the season came back on Sept. 9 against current No. 16 Arizona in Starkville, 31-24, in OT. State is in its second game under interim head coach Greg Knox, who owns a 3-1 career record as an interim head coach and served as MSU's once before in 2017. Offensively, the Bulldogs are led by Jo'Quavious Marks (534 yards, 4 TD) and Seth Davis (356 yards, 1 TD), who account for 890 yards. Star quarterback and Maxwell Award watch list member Will Rogers returned from injury last week against Southern Miss. On the year, he is 117-of-198 (59.1 percent) for 1,419 yards and 12 TD. Defensively, Mississippi State holds the top-two tacklers in the SEC in Jett Johnson (10.6/game, No. 8 FBS) and Nathaniel Watson (10.5/game, No. 9 FBS). Watson also leads the SEC in sacks (0.9/game, No. 8 FBS), and Johnson ranks second in tackles for loss (1.3/game, No. 24 FBS).
OLE MISS-MISSISSIPPI STATE SERIES HISTORY
• This game will be the 120th meeting of one of the nation's most-played rivalries.
• Ole Miss holds a 64-47-6 advantage in the series dating back to 1901, including a 23-15-3 mark in Starkville.
• The original record is 64-49-6 in favor of Ole Miss ... The Rebels had wins in 2012 & 2014 vacated due to NCAA ruling, while Mississippi State forfeited wins in 1976 & 1977.
• This game will be the 96th "Battle of the Golden Egg," as the two schools started playing for the trophy in 1927 ... Ole Miss holds a 58-30-5 advantage in the "Egg Bowl".
• According to Ole Miss records, this will be the 32nd time the series has been played on Thanksgiving Day ... Ole Miss holds a 16-14-1 advantage in Thanksgiving games, including a 10-4 mark in games played in Starkville.
• The Rebels own the four longest separate winning streaks in the series (nine, six, six and five games).
• Including a pair of forfeited victories, Ole Miss posted a 38-7-2 record versus MSU from 1944-1990.
• From 1947-1963, the Rebels posted a 15-0-2 mark against MSU ... That means a child born in December 1946 was a senior in high school before they saw Ole Miss lose to the Bulldogs.
• From 2004-2014, the home team won all but two games ... Since then, the road team has won five of the last eight.
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. The cost of the $250 trophy was split between 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." With the Rebels and the Bulldogs 6-4 and both 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 a special section on Sunday, which recounted in great detail the Rebels' stunning 27-7 victory. While the game is still officially the "Battle of the Golden Egg," most members of the media now refer to the annual game simply as the "Egg Bowl."
THANKSGIVING DAY HISTORY VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE
According to Ole Miss records, this will be the 32nd time the series has been played on Thanksgiving Day ... Ole Miss holds a 16-14-1 advantage in Thanksgiving games, including an 10-4 mark in games played in Starkville.
REBS IN THE POLLS
• Ole Miss ranks No. 12 in both the Associated Press Coaches polls for Week 13.
• Ole Miss also ranks No. 13 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings released Nov. 14.
• Dating back to 2021, Ole Miss has been ranked in the top 25 in 42 of the last 44 poll releases ... That includes a streak of 29 across 2021 and 2022, the longest streak since being ranked for 41 straight weeks from 2014-16.
• The SEC boasts six teams in the top 25 of all three polls.
CUSP OF HISTORY
Ole Miss has soared to new heights under fourth year head coach Lane Kiffin, and a win on Thanksgiving Day in the Egg Bowl would mark another milestone in his already successful tenure. With one more win, Kiffin would become just the second coach in Ole Miss history to record multiple 10-win seasons, joining John Vaught, who did so four times in 1955, '59, '60 and '62. In 2021, Kiffin led Ole Miss to its first-ever 10-win regular season at 10-3 overall, ending with a bid to the Sugar Bowl. Earlier this season, Kiffin became the second-fastest Ole Miss coach to 30 wins, breaking that threshold in just 44 games -- second only to Harry Mehre, who coached the Rebels from 1938-45 and hit 30 wins in 38 games.
GROUND & POUND
Sophomore RB Quinshon Judkins was the sole focus of opposing defenses early on after his superb freshman campaign in 2022, as he was held to just 201 yards and four scores across his first four games. Since, Judkins has exploded for 732 yards and 10 touchdowns across his last seven games -- beginning with a monster 177-yard effort in Ole Miss' thrilling 55-49 win over No. 12 LSU in Oxford on Sept. 30, his most rushing yards ever at Vaught-Hemingway. All four of Judkins' 100-yard efforts this season have come against SEC opponents -- those 177 and one TD against LSU and successive efforts against Auburn (124, 1 TD), Vanderbilt (124, 2 TDs) and Texas A&M (102, 3 TDs) -- as well as 10 of his 14 total rushing scores. Judkins leads the SEC and ranks seventh nationally at those 14 rushing TDs, and he ranks fifth in the conference at 84.8 yards per game. Judkins has also put his reputation as a bruising runner to good use, as he currently leads the SEC in both yards after contact at 700 (63.6 per game) and 54 total missed tackles forced, with those yards after contact accounting for 75 percent of his entire rushing total this season. Judkins was a consensus first team selection on all the Preseason All-America teams and All-SEC teams, and was selected to the Maxwell, Walter Camp and Doak Walker Award watch lists.
LEAGUE OF HIS OWN
Judkins' productivity has catapulted him into a category unmatched by his peers nationally, as he is the only active FBS rusher with 1,500 career yards (2,500) and a per game career average in the triple digits (104.2). Judkins leads active FBS players in several career categories, including rushing attempts per game (20.1), rushing yards per game (104.2) and all-purpose plays per game (21.5).
PICK YOUR POISON
Ole Miss has had a well-rounded running game, particularly when it comes to punching the ball across the goal line for six. The Rebels stand as one of three teams in the SEC with two rushers with at least seven rushing touchdowns, with sophomore RB Quinshon Judkins leading the SEC lead at 14 and junior QB Jaxson Dart with seven -- the third-most among all SEC signal callers and tied for 13th nationally among quarterbacks.
NOSE FOR THE ENDZONE
Last season, the Ole Miss single-season rushing touchdown record was one of many dismantled by current sophomore running back Quinshon Judkins during his electric freshman campaign. One year later, Judkins is making a run at the crown again, currently standing just two touchdowns shy of his record 16 in 2022 with 14 so far in the 2023 season. Judkins is the only rusher in Ole Miss history with multiple seasons with 14 or more rushing touchdowns, and he is also closing in on Deuce McAllister's career record of 37 with 30 in just 23 career games played.
MR. CONSISTENCY
Senior LB Ashanti Cistrunk has been a mainstay of the Ole Miss defense throughout his long career as a Rebel, playing in 59 consecutive games -- which constitutes all 59 of his career games played. Cistrunk is among 102 active players nationally in the FBS to have played at least 59, and on Ole Miss' roster this year he is among two transfers in Zamari Walton (59) and Teja Young (60). Cistrunk was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week following perhaps the best game of his career against Arkansas, when he ended the night with a season-high nine tackles, 1.0 tackles for loss, one half-sack and a key interception returned 28 yards -- the second pick of his career and helping lead the Rebel defense to a 27-20 victory on Oct. 7. In his Ole Miss career, Cistrunk has 194 total tackles (86 solo), 10.0 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and two interceptions. In addition to Cistrunk, Ole Miss' 2023 roster features five more with at least 150 career tackles: CB DeShawn Gaddie Jr. (157), LB Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste (193), LB Monty Montgomery (183), CB Zamari Walton (157) and S Teja Young (171).
WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE
Ole Miss leads the SEC and ranks 11th in the FBS in turnover margin, currently sitting at a total season margin of +9 and a per-game margin of +0.8. The Rebel defense has done its part with 12 interceptions and four fumble recoveries, but it's been the powerful -- yet careful -- Ole Miss offense that has helped pad that margin, currently leading the SEC and ranking fourth nationally at just seven turnovers all season.
CONSTANT PRESENCE
Senior offensive lineman Jeremy James has started all 11 games this season -- 10 at right guard -- which is but a small sample size of his long Rebel career as a starter. James currently stands at 47 career starts -- all consecutive -- which puts him tied for third in Ole Miss history. James has been a versatile starting member of the offensive line in his time as well, charting 29 starts at right guard and 18 at right tackle. James was Preseason All-SEC and Senior Bowl watch list selection, and this season he has not allowed a sack in 336 opportunities.
BIG PLAY POTENTIAL
The Rebels continue to be one of the best teams in the country in explosive plays, currently third among all FBS teams with 75 plays of 20 yards or more this season. In total, Ole Miss has tallied 194 plays of 10 or more yards this year, ranking seventh among all FBS schools. The Rebels average 17.6 such plays per game.
AMONG THE BEST
With its initial appearance at No. 10 ranking in the Coaches Poll in Week 10, Ole Miss has now cracked the top-10 in the national rankings for the third consecutive season, joining a high of No. 7 in 2022 and No. 8 in 2021. The last time the Rebels entered the top-10 of a major national poll in three straight campaigns was 1962-64.
LIGHT 'EM UP
There haven't been any Swayze Showers at the Vaught, but that hasn't stopped the explosive Ole Miss offense from being big time home run hitters through this season. On the year, the Rebels rank third in the SEC in yards per play at 6.7, as well as third in the conference and seventh nationally at 14.9 yards per completion.
OPTIONS THROUGH THE AIR
Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart has had plenty of targets in the passing game, but none more frequently than wideouts Jordan Watkins (52 rec., 734 yards, 3 TD), Dayton Wade (50 rec., 755 yards, 4 TD) and Tre Harris (44 rec., 824 yards, 8 TD). The Rebels are the lone team in the SEC and one of just two in the FBS alongside Washington State with three 700-yard receivers. Combined among them, that Rebel trio has 10 total 100-yard outings this season. All three have been crucial toward Ole Miss' status as a big-play threat as well, combining for 86 catches of at least 10 yards, 44 of at least 20 yards, 22 of at least 30 yards and 10 beyond 40 yards.
THROWIN' DARTS
Junior QB Jaxson Dart has been one of the top signal callers this season with both his arm and his legs, ranking fourth in the SEC and 15th nationally at his 294.0 yards of total offense per game. As Dart goes, so have the Rebels so far this season, with his SEC No. 3 points responsible per game clip of 14.4 helping spur the Rebels to the No. 4 scoring offense in the conference (No. 17 FBS) at 36.5 points per game. Dart ranks third in the SEC in both yards per completion at 14.9 (FBS No. 9) and yards per attempt at 9.9 (FBS No. 4), and he also ranks No. 10 nationally at his passing efficiency rating of 167.6. Dart has been especially effective in the first quarters so far this season, standing at 69-of-95 (72.6%) for 1,001 yards and seven touchdowns in the opening frame. That includes a blistering 11-for-11 stretch to open the season against Mercer, making him just the seventh Ole Miss quarterback to ever throw 11 consecutive completions and the best such streak since Matt Corral set the school record at 19 in a row at Vanderbilt in 2020. Dart is starting to climb several Ole Miss career lists, as he now ranks fifth all-time in total offense (6,822) and seventh in 300-yard passing games (6), passing yards (5,863), passing touchdowns (39) and touchdowns responsible for (47). In his overall career combining totals from his freshman season at USC in 2021, Dart owns 7,216 yards passing, 8,218 yards of total offense, 1,002 yards rushing (959 at Ole Miss), and 48 passing touchdowns. Dart is one of just 22 quarterbacks in the FBS and four within the SEC with at least 4,000 career passing yards and 1,000 career rushing yards, one of 17 with at least 6,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards and one of just 15 at 7,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards.
RARE COMPANY
With 41 more rushing yards, Jaxson Dart will become just the third member all-time in the Ole Miss 5,000/1,000 club in passing and rushing, joining John Fourcade (1978-81) and Matt Corral (2018-21).
DAYLIGHT FOR DAYTON
Senior WR Dayton Wade is in the midst of a career year in 2023 as one of Ole Miss' top deep-play threats. At 755 yards on 50 receptions, Wade has nearly doubled his prior high in yards (309) and catches (27) -- both recorded in 2022, his first season at Ole Miss after three at WKU from 2019-21. Wade has had at least 64 yards receiving in seven games this year, including a career day against Vanderbilt with 120 yards and one touchdown on eight catches. He leads all Rebels and is among just six SEC receivers with six receptions of at least 40 yards.
DON'T BLINK
Ole Miss is once again running a lightning-quick offense in 2023, currently ranking second in the SEC and eighth in the FBS at 23.1 seconds per play. This season, Ole Miss owns seven scoring drives clocking in beneath the one-minute mark, including back-to-back opening drives against Mercer (51 seconds) and Tulane (48 seconds). The 51-second drive against Mercer was the fastest to open a season for Ole Miss since 2018, and the 28 first quarter points ranks as the most in available records since at least 1967. The 48-second debut against the Green Wave, meanwhile, was the fastest on any opening drive for the Rebels since finding the endzone in just 34 seconds against Liberty on Nov. 6, 2021. In the Kiffin era, Ole Miss is 27-6 when scoring first.
STINGY DEFENSE
The Landshark defense has been on a tear lately, helping lift Ole Miss in three straight victories against Arkansas, Auburn and Vanderbilt, but doing so in different ways. The Rebel defense stifled the Razorbacks to just 36 yards on the ground back on Oct. 7, the fewest yielded to an SEC opponent by Ole Miss since shutting out Tennessee to zero rushing yards back on Oct. 18, 2014. Ole Miss followed that up with lockdown passing defense performances against Auburn, Vanderbilt and ULM that rank among the best by the Rebels since 2014 -- with the 60 yielded to the Commodores tying to the fewest in that span. In terms of total offense, those three games against Arkansas (288), Auburn (275) and Vanderbilt (229) constituted the first three-game stretch of holding SEC opponents to fewer than 300 yards since a span from the end of the 2008 season (vs. Mississippi State, 24 yards) and the beginning of the 2009 season (at South Carolina, 285 yards; at Vanderbilt, 240 yards). The last time Ole Miss held three straight SEC opponents to fewer than 300 yards within the same season was in 1993 in a stretch against Alabama (279), LSU (299) and Mississippi State (279).
CAUSING MAYHEM
Ole Miss ranks as one of the most ferocious defenses in the backfield this season, ranking eighth nationally in sacks (3.0/game) and 24th in tackles for loss (6.6/game). The Rebels have been relentless, recording at least 3.0 TFL in 10 of 11 games this season, with eight of 11 games hitting at least 6.0 TFL, four with at least 9.0 TFL, and two in double-digits against Mercer in the season-opener (11.0) and against Arkansas on Oct. 7 (10.0). Those TFL have come at a huge cost for opposing teams as well, as the Rebels rank second in the SEC and are 10th nationally in lost yardage at 346 yards. Ole Miss has been equally as punishing in disrupting the passing game, notching multiple sacks in nine games, recording at least four sacks in five and notching five sacks twice this year. A wide range of defenders have been getting in on the fun, too, with a total of 13 Rebels contributing to a QB sack and 22 having chipped-in on a TFL. And all that mayhem is paying off, with nine forced fumbles (including a Khari Coleman sack fumble returned for a TD by Jared Ivey vs. Tulane), 12 interceptions, 44 QB hurries, 41 pass breakups and two blocked field goals. In the Kiffin era, Ole Miss has recorded multiple sacks in 34 games, at least 5.0 tackles for loss in 31 games, and at least 4.0 sacks in 18 games. In games under Kiffin with at least 5.0 tackles for loss, Ole Miss is 22-9, and in games with at least 4.0 sacks, the Rebels are 10-3.
NO-FLY ZONE
The Ole Miss secondary put together an excellent stretch of games beginning with S Daijahn Anthony's game-sealing pass breakup against No. 12 LSU on Sept. 30, yielding just 437 combined passing yards over its next three games to Arkansas (250), Auburn (122) and Vanderbilt (60). Since, the Rebel defensive backs have combined for nine interceptions and 20 pass breakups for 29 total passes defended. Ole Miss picked off two passes apiece in all three games against Arkansas (LB Ashanti Cistrunk, S John Saunders Jr.), Auburn (Saunders Jr., CB Zamari Walton), and Vanderbilt (both by S Trey Washington), marking the first time since 2014 that Ole Miss came down with multiple picks in three consecutive games. Furthermore, Washington's two INTs against the Commodores on Oct. 28 made him the first Rebel with two in the same game since A.J. Finley against Liberty in 2021 and currently makes him one of just six defensive backs in the SEC to do so this season.
HIGH-FLYING OFFENSE
Ole Miss currently possesses the SEC's No. 4 scoring offense at 36.5 points per game, good for No. 17 in the FBS, as well as the conference's No. 3 overall offense at 468.9 yards per game (No. 13 FBS). Impressively, the Rebels have done so against strong competition through 11 games, holding the fourth-toughest strength of schedule ranking in the FBS and the second-toughest overall in the SEC behind LSU. Ole Miss has proven deadly both through the air and on the ground, though, as the Rebels are one of just two FBS teams (alongside Washington) with a 500-yard passing outing (524, vs. Mercer, No. 2 FBS) and a 300-yard rushing outing (317, vs. LSU) this season. In the Kiffin era, the Rebel offense ranks among the most prolific in the nation, leading the FBS in yards per game (501.4 ypg/47 games) and fourth in total yards (23,566 yards) since 2020. The Rebels have done it with a balanced attack over the last three years as well, as Ole Miss ranks alongside only Ohio State as the only two Power-5 teams with both a top-10 passing season (2020; No. 7) and a top-10 rushing season (2022; No. 3) since 2020.
• This game will be the 120th meeting in one of the nation's most-played rivalries ... Ole Miss holds a 64-47-6 advantage in the series dating back to 1901, including a 23-15-3 mark in Starkville.
• The original record is 64-49-6 in favor of Ole Miss ... The Rebels had wins in 2012 & 2014 vacated due to NCAA ruling, while Mississippi State forfeited wins in 1976 & 1977.
• Saturday will be the 96th "Battle of the Golden Egg," as the two schools started playing for the trophy in 1927 ... Ole Miss holds a 58-30-5 advantage in the "Egg Bowl."
• According to Ole Miss records, this will be the 32nd time the series has been played on Thanksgiving Day ... Ole Miss holds a 16-14-1 advantage in Thanksgiving games, including a 10-4 mark in games played in Starkville.
• Ole Miss is seeking just its second ever 10-win regular season alongside the 2021 campaign ... Head coach Lane Kiffin is looking to become just the second Rebel coach to chart multiple 10 win seasons alongside John Vaught.
• Ole Miss leads the SEC in both fewest turnovers (7, FBS No. 4) and turnover margin (+9, FBS No. 11).
• RB Quinshon Judkins leads the SEC with 14 rushing touchdowns this year ... He ranks second in Ole Miss career history with 30, third in all-purpose TD (32) and fifth in rushing yards (2,500).
• Judkins leads the SEC in yards after contact at 700, good for 75 percent of his season total (933).
• WR Tre Harris is the only FBS receiver this season with both a 200yd game and a four touchdown performance.
• Ole Miss is 1-of-2 FBS schools w/three 700yd WRs: Harris (824), Jordan Watkins (734) and Dayton Wade (755).
• Since 2020, Ole Miss ranks leads all FBS teams at 501.4 yards per game.
• QB Jaxson Dart is 41 rushing yards shy of becoming the third QB ever at Ole Miss in the 5K/1K club.
BULLDOGS SCOUTING REPORT
Mississippi State stands at 5-6 overall and 1-6 in SEC play. The Bulldogs' best win of the season came back on Sept. 9 against current No. 16 Arizona in Starkville, 31-24, in OT. State is in its second game under interim head coach Greg Knox, who owns a 3-1 career record as an interim head coach and served as MSU's once before in 2017. Offensively, the Bulldogs are led by Jo'Quavious Marks (534 yards, 4 TD) and Seth Davis (356 yards, 1 TD), who account for 890 yards. Star quarterback and Maxwell Award watch list member Will Rogers returned from injury last week against Southern Miss. On the year, he is 117-of-198 (59.1 percent) for 1,419 yards and 12 TD. Defensively, Mississippi State holds the top-two tacklers in the SEC in Jett Johnson (10.6/game, No. 8 FBS) and Nathaniel Watson (10.5/game, No. 9 FBS). Watson also leads the SEC in sacks (0.9/game, No. 8 FBS), and Johnson ranks second in tackles for loss (1.3/game, No. 24 FBS).
OLE MISS-MISSISSIPPI STATE SERIES HISTORY
• This game will be the 120th meeting of one of the nation's most-played rivalries.
• Ole Miss holds a 64-47-6 advantage in the series dating back to 1901, including a 23-15-3 mark in Starkville.
• The original record is 64-49-6 in favor of Ole Miss ... The Rebels had wins in 2012 & 2014 vacated due to NCAA ruling, while Mississippi State forfeited wins in 1976 & 1977.
• This game will be the 96th "Battle of the Golden Egg," as the two schools started playing for the trophy in 1927 ... Ole Miss holds a 58-30-5 advantage in the "Egg Bowl".
• According to Ole Miss records, this will be the 32nd time the series has been played on Thanksgiving Day ... Ole Miss holds a 16-14-1 advantage in Thanksgiving games, including a 10-4 mark in games played in Starkville.
• The Rebels own the four longest separate winning streaks in the series (nine, six, six and five games).
• Including a pair of forfeited victories, Ole Miss posted a 38-7-2 record versus MSU from 1944-1990.
• From 1947-1963, the Rebels posted a 15-0-2 mark against MSU ... That means a child born in December 1946 was a senior in high school before they saw Ole Miss lose to the Bulldogs.
• From 2004-2014, the home team won all but two games ... Since then, the road team has won five of the last eight.
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. The cost of the $250 trophy was split between 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." With the Rebels and the Bulldogs 6-4 and both 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 a special section on Sunday, which recounted in great detail the Rebels' stunning 27-7 victory. While the game is still officially the "Battle of the Golden Egg," most members of the media now refer to the annual game simply as the "Egg Bowl."
THANKSGIVING DAY HISTORY VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE
According to Ole Miss records, this will be the 32nd time the series has been played on Thanksgiving Day ... Ole Miss holds a 16-14-1 advantage in Thanksgiving games, including an 10-4 mark in games played in Starkville.
REBS IN THE POLLS
• Ole Miss ranks No. 12 in both the Associated Press Coaches polls for Week 13.
• Ole Miss also ranks No. 13 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings released Nov. 14.
• Dating back to 2021, Ole Miss has been ranked in the top 25 in 42 of the last 44 poll releases ... That includes a streak of 29 across 2021 and 2022, the longest streak since being ranked for 41 straight weeks from 2014-16.
• The SEC boasts six teams in the top 25 of all three polls.
CUSP OF HISTORY
Ole Miss has soared to new heights under fourth year head coach Lane Kiffin, and a win on Thanksgiving Day in the Egg Bowl would mark another milestone in his already successful tenure. With one more win, Kiffin would become just the second coach in Ole Miss history to record multiple 10-win seasons, joining John Vaught, who did so four times in 1955, '59, '60 and '62. In 2021, Kiffin led Ole Miss to its first-ever 10-win regular season at 10-3 overall, ending with a bid to the Sugar Bowl. Earlier this season, Kiffin became the second-fastest Ole Miss coach to 30 wins, breaking that threshold in just 44 games -- second only to Harry Mehre, who coached the Rebels from 1938-45 and hit 30 wins in 38 games.
GROUND & POUND
Sophomore RB Quinshon Judkins was the sole focus of opposing defenses early on after his superb freshman campaign in 2022, as he was held to just 201 yards and four scores across his first four games. Since, Judkins has exploded for 732 yards and 10 touchdowns across his last seven games -- beginning with a monster 177-yard effort in Ole Miss' thrilling 55-49 win over No. 12 LSU in Oxford on Sept. 30, his most rushing yards ever at Vaught-Hemingway. All four of Judkins' 100-yard efforts this season have come against SEC opponents -- those 177 and one TD against LSU and successive efforts against Auburn (124, 1 TD), Vanderbilt (124, 2 TDs) and Texas A&M (102, 3 TDs) -- as well as 10 of his 14 total rushing scores. Judkins leads the SEC and ranks seventh nationally at those 14 rushing TDs, and he ranks fifth in the conference at 84.8 yards per game. Judkins has also put his reputation as a bruising runner to good use, as he currently leads the SEC in both yards after contact at 700 (63.6 per game) and 54 total missed tackles forced, with those yards after contact accounting for 75 percent of his entire rushing total this season. Judkins was a consensus first team selection on all the Preseason All-America teams and All-SEC teams, and was selected to the Maxwell, Walter Camp and Doak Walker Award watch lists.
LEAGUE OF HIS OWN
Judkins' productivity has catapulted him into a category unmatched by his peers nationally, as he is the only active FBS rusher with 1,500 career yards (2,500) and a per game career average in the triple digits (104.2). Judkins leads active FBS players in several career categories, including rushing attempts per game (20.1), rushing yards per game (104.2) and all-purpose plays per game (21.5).
PICK YOUR POISON
Ole Miss has had a well-rounded running game, particularly when it comes to punching the ball across the goal line for six. The Rebels stand as one of three teams in the SEC with two rushers with at least seven rushing touchdowns, with sophomore RB Quinshon Judkins leading the SEC lead at 14 and junior QB Jaxson Dart with seven -- the third-most among all SEC signal callers and tied for 13th nationally among quarterbacks.
NOSE FOR THE ENDZONE
Last season, the Ole Miss single-season rushing touchdown record was one of many dismantled by current sophomore running back Quinshon Judkins during his electric freshman campaign. One year later, Judkins is making a run at the crown again, currently standing just two touchdowns shy of his record 16 in 2022 with 14 so far in the 2023 season. Judkins is the only rusher in Ole Miss history with multiple seasons with 14 or more rushing touchdowns, and he is also closing in on Deuce McAllister's career record of 37 with 30 in just 23 career games played.
MR. CONSISTENCY
Senior LB Ashanti Cistrunk has been a mainstay of the Ole Miss defense throughout his long career as a Rebel, playing in 59 consecutive games -- which constitutes all 59 of his career games played. Cistrunk is among 102 active players nationally in the FBS to have played at least 59, and on Ole Miss' roster this year he is among two transfers in Zamari Walton (59) and Teja Young (60). Cistrunk was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week following perhaps the best game of his career against Arkansas, when he ended the night with a season-high nine tackles, 1.0 tackles for loss, one half-sack and a key interception returned 28 yards -- the second pick of his career and helping lead the Rebel defense to a 27-20 victory on Oct. 7. In his Ole Miss career, Cistrunk has 194 total tackles (86 solo), 10.0 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and two interceptions. In addition to Cistrunk, Ole Miss' 2023 roster features five more with at least 150 career tackles: CB DeShawn Gaddie Jr. (157), LB Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste (193), LB Monty Montgomery (183), CB Zamari Walton (157) and S Teja Young (171).
WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE
Ole Miss leads the SEC and ranks 11th in the FBS in turnover margin, currently sitting at a total season margin of +9 and a per-game margin of +0.8. The Rebel defense has done its part with 12 interceptions and four fumble recoveries, but it's been the powerful -- yet careful -- Ole Miss offense that has helped pad that margin, currently leading the SEC and ranking fourth nationally at just seven turnovers all season.
CONSTANT PRESENCE
Senior offensive lineman Jeremy James has started all 11 games this season -- 10 at right guard -- which is but a small sample size of his long Rebel career as a starter. James currently stands at 47 career starts -- all consecutive -- which puts him tied for third in Ole Miss history. James has been a versatile starting member of the offensive line in his time as well, charting 29 starts at right guard and 18 at right tackle. James was Preseason All-SEC and Senior Bowl watch list selection, and this season he has not allowed a sack in 336 opportunities.
BIG PLAY POTENTIAL
The Rebels continue to be one of the best teams in the country in explosive plays, currently third among all FBS teams with 75 plays of 20 yards or more this season. In total, Ole Miss has tallied 194 plays of 10 or more yards this year, ranking seventh among all FBS schools. The Rebels average 17.6 such plays per game.
AMONG THE BEST
With its initial appearance at No. 10 ranking in the Coaches Poll in Week 10, Ole Miss has now cracked the top-10 in the national rankings for the third consecutive season, joining a high of No. 7 in 2022 and No. 8 in 2021. The last time the Rebels entered the top-10 of a major national poll in three straight campaigns was 1962-64.
LIGHT 'EM UP
There haven't been any Swayze Showers at the Vaught, but that hasn't stopped the explosive Ole Miss offense from being big time home run hitters through this season. On the year, the Rebels rank third in the SEC in yards per play at 6.7, as well as third in the conference and seventh nationally at 14.9 yards per completion.
OPTIONS THROUGH THE AIR
Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart has had plenty of targets in the passing game, but none more frequently than wideouts Jordan Watkins (52 rec., 734 yards, 3 TD), Dayton Wade (50 rec., 755 yards, 4 TD) and Tre Harris (44 rec., 824 yards, 8 TD). The Rebels are the lone team in the SEC and one of just two in the FBS alongside Washington State with three 700-yard receivers. Combined among them, that Rebel trio has 10 total 100-yard outings this season. All three have been crucial toward Ole Miss' status as a big-play threat as well, combining for 86 catches of at least 10 yards, 44 of at least 20 yards, 22 of at least 30 yards and 10 beyond 40 yards.
THROWIN' DARTS
Junior QB Jaxson Dart has been one of the top signal callers this season with both his arm and his legs, ranking fourth in the SEC and 15th nationally at his 294.0 yards of total offense per game. As Dart goes, so have the Rebels so far this season, with his SEC No. 3 points responsible per game clip of 14.4 helping spur the Rebels to the No. 4 scoring offense in the conference (No. 17 FBS) at 36.5 points per game. Dart ranks third in the SEC in both yards per completion at 14.9 (FBS No. 9) and yards per attempt at 9.9 (FBS No. 4), and he also ranks No. 10 nationally at his passing efficiency rating of 167.6. Dart has been especially effective in the first quarters so far this season, standing at 69-of-95 (72.6%) for 1,001 yards and seven touchdowns in the opening frame. That includes a blistering 11-for-11 stretch to open the season against Mercer, making him just the seventh Ole Miss quarterback to ever throw 11 consecutive completions and the best such streak since Matt Corral set the school record at 19 in a row at Vanderbilt in 2020. Dart is starting to climb several Ole Miss career lists, as he now ranks fifth all-time in total offense (6,822) and seventh in 300-yard passing games (6), passing yards (5,863), passing touchdowns (39) and touchdowns responsible for (47). In his overall career combining totals from his freshman season at USC in 2021, Dart owns 7,216 yards passing, 8,218 yards of total offense, 1,002 yards rushing (959 at Ole Miss), and 48 passing touchdowns. Dart is one of just 22 quarterbacks in the FBS and four within the SEC with at least 4,000 career passing yards and 1,000 career rushing yards, one of 17 with at least 6,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards and one of just 15 at 7,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards.
RARE COMPANY
With 41 more rushing yards, Jaxson Dart will become just the third member all-time in the Ole Miss 5,000/1,000 club in passing and rushing, joining John Fourcade (1978-81) and Matt Corral (2018-21).
DAYLIGHT FOR DAYTON
Senior WR Dayton Wade is in the midst of a career year in 2023 as one of Ole Miss' top deep-play threats. At 755 yards on 50 receptions, Wade has nearly doubled his prior high in yards (309) and catches (27) -- both recorded in 2022, his first season at Ole Miss after three at WKU from 2019-21. Wade has had at least 64 yards receiving in seven games this year, including a career day against Vanderbilt with 120 yards and one touchdown on eight catches. He leads all Rebels and is among just six SEC receivers with six receptions of at least 40 yards.
DON'T BLINK
Ole Miss is once again running a lightning-quick offense in 2023, currently ranking second in the SEC and eighth in the FBS at 23.1 seconds per play. This season, Ole Miss owns seven scoring drives clocking in beneath the one-minute mark, including back-to-back opening drives against Mercer (51 seconds) and Tulane (48 seconds). The 51-second drive against Mercer was the fastest to open a season for Ole Miss since 2018, and the 28 first quarter points ranks as the most in available records since at least 1967. The 48-second debut against the Green Wave, meanwhile, was the fastest on any opening drive for the Rebels since finding the endzone in just 34 seconds against Liberty on Nov. 6, 2021. In the Kiffin era, Ole Miss is 27-6 when scoring first.
STINGY DEFENSE
The Landshark defense has been on a tear lately, helping lift Ole Miss in three straight victories against Arkansas, Auburn and Vanderbilt, but doing so in different ways. The Rebel defense stifled the Razorbacks to just 36 yards on the ground back on Oct. 7, the fewest yielded to an SEC opponent by Ole Miss since shutting out Tennessee to zero rushing yards back on Oct. 18, 2014. Ole Miss followed that up with lockdown passing defense performances against Auburn, Vanderbilt and ULM that rank among the best by the Rebels since 2014 -- with the 60 yielded to the Commodores tying to the fewest in that span. In terms of total offense, those three games against Arkansas (288), Auburn (275) and Vanderbilt (229) constituted the first three-game stretch of holding SEC opponents to fewer than 300 yards since a span from the end of the 2008 season (vs. Mississippi State, 24 yards) and the beginning of the 2009 season (at South Carolina, 285 yards; at Vanderbilt, 240 yards). The last time Ole Miss held three straight SEC opponents to fewer than 300 yards within the same season was in 1993 in a stretch against Alabama (279), LSU (299) and Mississippi State (279).
CAUSING MAYHEM
Ole Miss ranks as one of the most ferocious defenses in the backfield this season, ranking eighth nationally in sacks (3.0/game) and 24th in tackles for loss (6.6/game). The Rebels have been relentless, recording at least 3.0 TFL in 10 of 11 games this season, with eight of 11 games hitting at least 6.0 TFL, four with at least 9.0 TFL, and two in double-digits against Mercer in the season-opener (11.0) and against Arkansas on Oct. 7 (10.0). Those TFL have come at a huge cost for opposing teams as well, as the Rebels rank second in the SEC and are 10th nationally in lost yardage at 346 yards. Ole Miss has been equally as punishing in disrupting the passing game, notching multiple sacks in nine games, recording at least four sacks in five and notching five sacks twice this year. A wide range of defenders have been getting in on the fun, too, with a total of 13 Rebels contributing to a QB sack and 22 having chipped-in on a TFL. And all that mayhem is paying off, with nine forced fumbles (including a Khari Coleman sack fumble returned for a TD by Jared Ivey vs. Tulane), 12 interceptions, 44 QB hurries, 41 pass breakups and two blocked field goals. In the Kiffin era, Ole Miss has recorded multiple sacks in 34 games, at least 5.0 tackles for loss in 31 games, and at least 4.0 sacks in 18 games. In games under Kiffin with at least 5.0 tackles for loss, Ole Miss is 22-9, and in games with at least 4.0 sacks, the Rebels are 10-3.
NO-FLY ZONE
The Ole Miss secondary put together an excellent stretch of games beginning with S Daijahn Anthony's game-sealing pass breakup against No. 12 LSU on Sept. 30, yielding just 437 combined passing yards over its next three games to Arkansas (250), Auburn (122) and Vanderbilt (60). Since, the Rebel defensive backs have combined for nine interceptions and 20 pass breakups for 29 total passes defended. Ole Miss picked off two passes apiece in all three games against Arkansas (LB Ashanti Cistrunk, S John Saunders Jr.), Auburn (Saunders Jr., CB Zamari Walton), and Vanderbilt (both by S Trey Washington), marking the first time since 2014 that Ole Miss came down with multiple picks in three consecutive games. Furthermore, Washington's two INTs against the Commodores on Oct. 28 made him the first Rebel with two in the same game since A.J. Finley against Liberty in 2021 and currently makes him one of just six defensive backs in the SEC to do so this season.
HIGH-FLYING OFFENSE
Ole Miss currently possesses the SEC's No. 4 scoring offense at 36.5 points per game, good for No. 17 in the FBS, as well as the conference's No. 3 overall offense at 468.9 yards per game (No. 13 FBS). Impressively, the Rebels have done so against strong competition through 11 games, holding the fourth-toughest strength of schedule ranking in the FBS and the second-toughest overall in the SEC behind LSU. Ole Miss has proven deadly both through the air and on the ground, though, as the Rebels are one of just two FBS teams (alongside Washington) with a 500-yard passing outing (524, vs. Mercer, No. 2 FBS) and a 300-yard rushing outing (317, vs. LSU) this season. In the Kiffin era, the Rebel offense ranks among the most prolific in the nation, leading the FBS in yards per game (501.4 ypg/47 games) and fourth in total yards (23,566 yards) since 2020. The Rebels have done it with a balanced attack over the last three years as well, as Ole Miss ranks alongside only Ohio State as the only two Power-5 teams with both a top-10 passing season (2020; No. 7) and a top-10 rushing season (2022; No. 3) since 2020.
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