Mississippi State
8-4 , 4-4
Ole Miss
4-8 , 1-7
Mississippi State Retains Golden Egg With 31-23 Win In Oxford
November 27, 2010 | Football
One year after carving up the Rebel defense with 131-rushing yards, the junior signal caller from Montgomery, Ala., used his arm in leading No. 25 Mississippi State to a 31-23 win in front of 58,625 fans at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
The 6-foot-4 Relf threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns, both career-highs, on 13-of-20 passing as the Bulldogs have now defeated Ole Miss three times in the last four years and four out of the last six. The win was also MSU's first in Oxford since a 28-6 victory in 1998.
In addition to his aerial assault, Relf rushed for another 66 yards to give him a career-best 354 total yards of offense.
But it wasn't just Relf providing highlights on this chilly, crisp fall night.
Freshman LaDarious Perkins
made play after play rushing the football as well as catching passes out of the
backfield. The speedy Greenville, Miss., native grounded out 98 yards on 13
carries, while hauling in three passes for a game-high 140 yards, including a
long of 71.
He also had 40 yards in the return game to give him 319 all-purpose yards, the second-most in school history.
More importantly, he found the end zone twice.
Both scores came in the second quarter, his first a 33-yard pass from Relf that put the Bulldogs on top for good, 14-9. Then with 42 seconds left until intermission, he grabbed a 36-yard pass to extend the lead to 21-9.
Mississippi State, which improved to 8-4 and now readies itself for a much-celebrated bowl game, scored the remainder of its points in the third quarter.
Less than four minutes into the frame, Derek DePasquale swelled the lead to 24-9 on a 42-yard field goal, while Vick Ballard's 8-yard scoring scamper at the 2:49 mark made it a 31-9 affair. For Ballard, it was his 16th rushing touchdown of the year, which ties the single-season mark set by Jackie Parker in 1952.
The Rebels, however, didn't fold.
Instead, Ole Miss (4-8, 1-7) orchestrated two fourth-quarter scoring drives to close the gap and make it a one possession contest. The comeback, though, was thwarted when quarterback Jeremiah Masoli was tackled by Corey Broomfield for no gain on 4th-and-25 at the UM 23 with 59 seconds to play.
From that point, Relf took two knees and the celebration ensued as the Bulldogs were presented with the Golden Egg for the second-consecutive year.
"We've got a real nice trophy case for it, and we're going to put it back where it belongs," said MSU coach Dan Mullen, the first MSU coach since Allyn McKeen in 1939-40 to win his first two games in this rivalry series.
Yet, in the first quarter it remained questionable as to where the historic, prized trophy would make its home for the next 365 days as Ole Miss struck first, scoring on a 16-yard run by Jeff Scott. However, MSU's Fletcher Cox blocked the extra point.
But early in the second quarter, the Bulldogs took a 7-6 advantage when Relf connected with Chris Smith for a 15-yard scoring strike. Ole Miss answered immediately and regained the lead at 9-7 on a Bryson Rose field goal, but the lead was short-lived as MSU's next possession ended with Perkins' first touchdown.
For the game, Mississippi State totaled 498 yards of offense, marking the fifth time the season the Bulldogs have eclipsed the 450 mark. Of that total, 210 came on the ground.
The Rebels manufactured 326 yards, with the Bulldog defense holding them to just 65 rushing. MSU recorded 10 tackles for loss and three sacks. K.J. Wright and Chris White paced the defensive effort with nine stops each, with Wright being credited with two the sacks. Senior Pernell McPhee had the other.
"We felt good, even at 9-7," Wright said. "We knew once our offense started to make plays, we were going to get it done."
Team Stats
MS 0, OLEMISS 6
OLEMISS - Jeff Scott 16 yd run (Bryson Rose kickblocked), 1 plays, 16 yards, TOP 0:05
MS 7, OLEMISS 6
MS - Chris Smith 15 yd pass from Chris Relf (D. DePasquale kick) 4 plays, 88 yards, TOP 1:51
MS 7, OLEMISS 9
OLEMISS - Bryson Rose 34 yd field goal 9 plays, 49 yards, TOP 2:58
MS 14, OLEMISS 9
MS - L. Perkins 33 yd pass from Chris Relf (D. DePasquale kick) 3 plays, 82 yards, TOP 1:03
MS 21, OLEMISS 9
MS - L. Perkins 36 yd pass from Chris Relf (D. DePasquale kick) 2 plays, 53 yards, TOP 0:41
MS 24, OLEMISS 9
MS - D. DePasquale 42 yd field goal 4 plays, 7 yards, TOP 1:25
MS 31, OLEMISS 9
MS - Vick Ballard 8 yd run (D. DePasquale kick), 6 plays, 79 yards, TOP 2:58
MS 31, OLEMISS 16
OLEMISS - Brandon Bolden 10 yd run (Bryson Rose kick), 10 plays, 73 yards, TOP 4:21
MS 31, OLEMISS 23
OLEMISS - Ja-Mes Logan 24 yd pass from Jeremiah Masoli (Bryson Rose kick) 10 plays, 80 yards, TOP 2:50
