Mississippi State
Ole Miss
Rebels Regain Golden Egg With Convincing Win Over Bulldogs
November 28, 2008 | Football
? Official Statistics OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss posted a 24-0 lead through one quarter of play and never looked back in a convincing 45-0 victory over visiting Mississippi State Friday in the annual Battle for the Golden Egg rivalry between the schools. With the loss, MSU fell to 4-8 overall, 2-6 in Southeastern Conference play. The Rebels, which regained possession of the Golden Egg trophy, ended the regular season at 8-4, 5-3 in the league. As the score would indicate, Ole Miss dominated the game on both sides of the ball. The Rebels amassed 461 yards of total offense while limiting State to just 37 yards from scrimmage. UM's defensive unit tallied a school-record 11 sacks on the afternoon, consistently applying pressure to Bulldog quarterbacks to keep State in check offensively. The Rebels took little time in breaking scoring ice, taking the opening kickoff and marching 76 yards on just five plays to take a 7-0 lead. The big play came on a touchdown run, a 36-yard sprint by Dexter McCluster down the right sideline. UM would tack on three more points on its next possession. After returning a State punt to its own 48, the Rebels moved the ball to the State 25 to set up a 42-yard field goal from Joshua Shene. UM led 10-0 with 8:08 to go in the first period. State miscues led to Ole Miss' next two scores. After Bulldog Tyson Lee was intercepted by Ashlee Palmer at the UM 46, the Rebels drove 54 yards to score on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Jevan Snead to Shay Hodge. On the ensuing drive, MSU backup signal caller Wesley Carroll was picked off by Jerrell Powe after the ball popped up as Carroll was being hit while throwing. Ole Miss took over at the Bulldog 35 and would capitilize in just four plays, this time with Snead finding Mike Wallace open in the back left corner of the end zone on a 17-yard strike. Shene's extra point gave the Rebels a 24-0, a score that would stand until just before halftime. The second quarter went scoreless until the last minute of the first half. The Rebels struck on a big pass play with 42 seconds to go before the intermission, Snead hitting a streaking Wallace for a 72-yard score. State suffered three big losses to injury in the first half, the latest and biggest of which was starting wide receiver Brandon McRae who suffered a compound fracture of the tibia in his right leg. That setback, which halted play for five minutes, came on the heels of the Bulldogs losing starting quarterback Lee to a shoulder injury and star defensive back Derek Pegues to a bruised knee. In the second half, the Rebels would, tack on two more scores. The first came midway through the third quarter, when Snead hit Bradley Sowell on a 1-yard pass that converted a fourth down near the goal line. UM led 38-0 with 7:09 to go in the third. Snead, who was pulled early in the fourth quarter, was UM's offensive leader, completing 14-of-19 passes for 213 yards and four touchdowns. He was complemented by big receiving days from Wallace (4-105, 2 TD) and Hodge (7-89, 1 TD). Ole Miss found paydirt for the final time just under three minutes into the final period when running back Brandon Bolden broke through the left side for a 24-yard run.
? Official Statistics (PDF)
? Postgame Notes (PDF)
