GAMEDAY: The 94th Battle For The Golden Egg

STARKVILLE – The instate rivalry is renewed.

Mississippi State welcomes Ole Miss to Davis Wade Stadium on Thursday, with kickoff set for 6:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised by ESPN with Joe Tessitore (play-by-play), Greg McElroy (analyst) and Katie George (reporter) on the call.

For those attending, stadium gates open at 4:15 p.m. Mobile tickets should be downloaded prior to arriving at the stadium. Fans can also listen for free on HailState.com/plus. Full gameday information can be found at HailState.com/Gameday.

Mississippi State's Storylines vs. Ole Miss

This is the 118th meeting between Mississippi State and Ole Miss and the 94th edition of the Battle for the Golden Egg. The Golden Egg trophy has been given to the winning team every year since 1927 as a joint agreement by the student bodies.
The teams have met on Thanksgiving 26 times. MSU owns an 11-14-1 on-field record on Thanksgiving against the Rebels but has won two of the last three played on the holiday.
The Egg Bowl is the 10th longest uninterrupted rivalry in college football.
With a victory, MSU will reach eight wins for the first time since the 2018 season when the Bulldogs went 8-5 on the field.
State is one of eight teams in the nation with at least three wins over AP-ranked teams this year and one of six with two victories over teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25.
MSU has two wins over teams currently ranked in the CFP Top 25 and is one of eight teams nationally with multiple such wins.
QB Will Rogers leads the Power Five in passing yardage (4,113), which also leads the SEC and ranks second in the FBS. He is just the seventh SEC quarterback to ever record a 4,000-yard passing season and holds the MSU school record.
There have been 15 games of 400-plus passing yards in MSU history. Eight of those performances have occurred under Mike Leach (22 games). MSU had thrown for 400-plus yards just seven total times in the previous 1,193 games prior to Leach's arrival in Starkville.
Leach has five career AP-ranked victories at MSU, which ranks fourth among all Bulldog head coaches. He needed just 21 games to reach five ranked wins, making him the fastest MSU coach to do so.
Mississippi State is now bowl eligible, extending its streak of bowl game appearances to 12 years. MSU is one of four SEC programs to make a bowl trip in each of the last dozen years, joining Alabama, Georgia and Texas A&M.
Leach has now reached 18 bowl games in 20 years as a head coach and has made the postseason in each of the last seven years including 2021.
The Bulldogs have played the nation's No. 22 strength of schedule according to ESPN's FPI. MSU is ranked No. 22 in the FPI and is among the top 25 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. Only nine teams in the nation are among the Top 25 in both offensive and defensive efficiency, and eight of those are ranked in the CFP or AP polls.
With its 55-10 victory against Tennessee State, Mississippi State has now scored 50+ points in at least one game in 11 consecutive seasons. The 55 points were MSU's most in a game since a 56-10 victory against Louisiana on Sept. 15, 2018.
The Bulldogs posted a season-high 12 tackles for loss against the Tigers and matched their season high with four sacks. It was State's highest tackles for loss total since recording 17 against Stephen F. Austin in 2018, and 11 different Bulldogs had at least 0.5 tackles for loss.
LB Tyrus Wheat posted a career-best 3.0 tackles for loss and matched his career high with 2.0 sacks last week. He is now tied for fifth among SEC linebackers with 10.0 tackles for loss this year and sixth among all league players with 7.0 sacks.
Last week, WR Austin Williams tied the school record with three receiving touchdowns against Tennessee State. He caught four passes for a career-high 75 yards, including 21-yard and 30-yard scores. Williams is having a career year, posting the highest season totals of his career in receptions (45), yards (519), first downs (28) and touchdowns (4).
Williams boasts the third-highest hands grade (91.6) in the FBS per PFF. He has caught 45 of his 50 targets (90.0 percent), which ranks second in the nation among players with at least 35 targets.
WR Makai Polk has tied Fred Ross' (2015) MSU single-season record with 88 catches this season. With 891 receiving yards, he is one of five Bulldogs to eclipse 800 receiving yards through 11 games since 2000. He already ranks 10th in MSU single-season history.
The Bulldogs have multiple 500-yard receivers for just the seventh time on record (since 1961) and have seen three receivers reach that mark for the first time in program history: Polk, 891; WR Jaden Walley, 569 and Williams, 519.
Freshmen and sophomores have scored 33 of State's 45 touchdowns. When including QB Will Rogers' passing scores, underclassmen have been responsible for 67 touchdowns.
MSU has held six opponents below 100 rushing yards, which is tied for second-most in a season in MSU history since 2000, trailing only the 2018 season's seven games.
S Jalen Green has allowed a reception on just 46.7 percent of his snaps in coverage which ranks third among SEC safeties and corners with at least 300 coverage snaps.

GAMEDAY: The 94th Battle For The Golden Egg

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jalen Green

Makai Polk

Will Rogers

Jaden Walley

Tyrus Wheat

Austin Williams

Mississippi State University Athletics

GAMEDAY: The 94th Battle For The Golden Egg

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jalen Green

Makai Polk

Will Rogers

Jaden Walley

Tyrus Wheat

Austin Williams

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