Notes To Know vs. Ole Miss

STARKVILLE - The 118^th meeting between Mississippi State and Ole Miss will also be the 94^th Battle for the Golden Egg.

The Bulldogs and ninth-ranked Rebels will renew their annual rivalry that dates back to 1901 on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN.

NOTES TO KNOW

Mississippi State and Ole Miss have met on Thanksgiving 26 times. The Bulldogs have won two of the last three meetings on Thanksgiving but the Rebels own a 14-11-1 overall record on the holiday.
The first time the Bulldogs played Ole Miss on Turkey Day was in 1905, a game in which MSU won 11-0.
Ole Miss is ahead in the all-time series 63-47-6 and also lead in games played in Starkville, 22-15-3.
Since the series returned to the two campuses in 1991, State holds a 16-14 edge on the field.
Mississippi State is one of eight teams in the country with at least three victories over opponents ranked in the Associated Press Top 25.
Quarterback Will Rogers leads the Power 5 with 4,113 passing yards.
Rogers also tops the nation completing 76 percent of his passes and completes 39.6 throws per game. He is also the Southeastern Conference leader in passing yards per game (373.9) and total offense (367.2).
Rogers has thrown for at least 300 yards in nine consecutive games. During that stretch, he has completed 76.2 percent of his passes while averaging 383.2 yards and thrown 29 touchdowns. The only signal callers with longer streaks since 2004 are also Mike Leach disciples – Graham Harrell (Texas Tech, 16) and Gardner Minshew (Washington State, 11).
Rogers has thrown a touchdown in 16 of his last 17 games with 42 passing TDs during that span.
Rogers is the only quarterback in the conference with 400 yards and multiple touchdowns in the same game and he has accomplished that feat four times this season.
Rogers has completed passes to 14 different receivers this season and tossed a touchdown to nine of them.
Rogers is riding a 11-game streak where he has completed 30 or more passes.
In 16 career starts, Rogers has attempted 848 passes and only thrown 11 interceptions (1.3 percent).
The Bulldogs have had 15 games of 400-plus passing yards in their 122-year history. Eight of those games have occurred during Leach's two-year tenure as head coach.
Wide receiver Austin Williams tied the school's single-game record last week with three touchdown catches. Williams hauled in all three of those scoring strikes before halftime.
Wide receiver Makai Polk needs one more catch to break Fred Ross' MSU record for most catches in a single-season. Polk currently has 88 grabs this year, which leads the SEC.
Underclassmen has accounted for 33 of the Bulldogs' 45 touchdowns this year.
The Bulldogs lead the country with 2,417 yards after the catch.
Mississippi State is the only program in the nation with two players with 70-plus receptions with Polk and Jo'quavious Marks (73).
Polk, Marks and Dillon Johnson (53) give the Bulldogs their first set of players with 50-plus catches in a single season in school history.
Marks has a catch in all 22-games of his career while Polk (20), Williams (20), Jaden Walley (20), Jamire Calvin (16) and Johnson (12) all have active reception streaks reaching double digit games.
Marks leads all FBS running backs in catches this year. His 133 career catches is already a school record by a running back.
MSU ranks third in the SEC and seventh nationally in run defense, only allowing opponents 96.4 yards this year.
State has held six opponents under 100 yards rushing in 2021. Louisiana Tech barely cracked the century mark with 101 yards in the season opener.
Arkansas (202) is the only team to rush for over 200-yards against the Bulldogs this fall.
Cornebrack Emmanuel Forbes is the country's active leader with three career pick-6's. Forbes also tops the conference with eight career interceptions and is only a true sophomore.
Kicker Brandon Ruiz has made 134 consecutive extra points.
State associate head coach Tony Hughes was a defensive backs coach at Ole Miss from 2005-06 and coached tight ends for the Rebels in 2007.
The Bulldogs' director of high school relations Jay Hopson played safety at Ole Miss from 1988-91 and served as the Rebels defensive back coach and recruiting coordinator in 2004.
Ole Miss cornerbacks coach Terrell Buckley worked in the same capacity for MSU from 2016-19.

Players Mentioned

Jamire Calvin

Emmanuel Forbes

Dillon Johnson

Jo'Quavious Marks

Makai Polk

Will Rogers

Brandon Ruiz

Jaden Walley

Austin Williams

Mississippi State University Athletics