Mississippi State did exactly what it needed to do Thursday night in Oxford, dominating Ole Miss to the tune of a 35-3 win in the 115th annual meeting between the two rivals. State rolled up 420 yards and held the explosive Rebels to a mere 189 yards, forcing three turnovers and sacking Ole Miss quarterbacks 4 times. It was a pretty boring Egg Bowl from an game perspective, but there was a little excitement.
THE PLAY….NO WAIT, THE FIGHT
Mississippi State and Ole Miss are NOT in the holiday spirit.
"Unsportsmanlike conduct on all players for both teams…" pic.twitter.com/Cf6efueNSu
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 23, 2018
And all of this happened on a play that never should have occurred, the officials would review it and determine the Rebels had snapped the ball after the clock had expired, taking the touchdown off the board. As a result of the brawl, MSU cornerbacks Jamal Peters and Cameron Dantzler were ejected, and the team unsportsmanlike forced Willie Gay out of the game, as he had been tagged with a previous penalty earlier in the game. Those three will miss the first half of whatever bowl game the Bulldogs find themselves on their way too in the coming weeks.
THE PLAYER
Jeffery Simmons is TOO STRONG. ?? pic.twitter.com/ztqHXBaHxI
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) November 23, 2018
MSU’s defense has been so good all season, but they may have saved the best for the last. The Bulldogs controlled the line of scrimmage all night, led by junior All-SEC tackle Jeff Simmons. Simmons finally recorded a sack in this game, and his “D-Block” pushed the Rebel offensive line around on almost every snap. The Rebels could not find time to throw, and were held to 37 yards rushing on the night, just over a yard per carry. State’s defense carried this team through good times and bad, and has rightfully earned the title of the best ever to play for the Bulldogs.
MOORHEAD SHOWS HIS EMOTIONS
Something got Moorhead perturbed postgame pic.twitter.com/fERoX2qIFa
— Brett Hudson (@Brett_Hudson) November 23, 2018
Moorhead says he wants his team to play with class. At the same time he doesn't want them to take s— off anybody.
— David H Murray (@DawgsBiteMag) November 23, 2018
Joe Moorhead’s introduction to the Battle for the Golden Egg showed a fiery side of the head coach that hasn’t been seen much in the 2018 season. MSU had the offense still throwing the ball in the game’s final moments, showing Moorhead wasn’t interested in showing mercy to the clearly defeated Rebels. As you can see in the video above, he had words with someone in red and blue postgame. We talked all week long about it appeared we were entering an era of a kindler, gentler Egg Bowl. It appears that talk was very premature, and the rivalry is just as hot as it’s ever been.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Calling all Big 10 & SEC Football Fans! Outback Bowl 2019 Tickets are on sale NOW! Get your ticket to #FootballInParadise here: https://t.co/sdN2cUD4Af ??☀️ pic.twitter.com/Emchjqg9Xo
— Outback Bowl (@outbackbowl) August 28, 2018
A lot of smoke circling around sending Mississippi State to the Outback Bowl, which would be an early kickoff on New Year’s Day in Tampa, Florida. It feels like the right call, State has never been to that bowl, the SEC looks good to get four into the playoff and that tier of bowls, and Kentucky would head to Orlando and the Citrus. That feels like a game Bulldog fans would be excited, and it could be a intriguing matchup, as Joe Moorhead’s former team, Penn State, would be in line to pick up the Big 10 bid. If it’s not Tampa, likely destinations are Nashville and Houston, so we’ll have to play the waiting game until everything is made official on December 2nd.
We will be talking about this from every angle tomorrow on SportsTalk Mississippi, so please join me and the gang from 3-6 PM on your local SuperTalk affiliate, or on .
