From Details To The Golden Egg
November 26, 2022 | Football, Joel Coleman
The Bulldogs’ rivalry win was fueled by sticking to the lessons taught by Mike Leach.
STARKVILLE – Eggs at breakfast time are certainly not unusual. However, no one had an egg quite like Jamie Parkerson on Friday morning.
It was around 8:15 a.m. when Parkerson – owner of J. Parkerson Jewelers in Starkville – was handed the Egg Bowl trophy. Parkerson's task? Go through the tedious process of engraving the latest score on the prize of the Mississippi State-Ole Miss rivalry.
That score, as you surely know by now, was 24-22 MSU over the Rebels. That's easier said than inscribed.
The font needs to be just the right size. The spacing needs to match. The details matter.
It's fitting, for it was Mississippi State's commitment to the small details that had the trophy in Parkerson's hands to begin with.
For the Bulldogs to top the Rebels on Thanksgiving night, they had to do all the little things; not just on Thursday, but since those hot August preseason days when the Egg Bowl was long from anyone's mind.
Before the opener, the Dawgs readied themselves. Once the campaign started, they did their jobs, week in and week out.
There were ups. There were downs. There were great triumphs and a few disappointments, but all the while, there was no wavering of the Bulldog resolve. So many of the traits that are now trademarks of Mississippi State under Mike Leach were identifiable on a Thanksgiving night rollercoaster ride that, in the end, had MSU on top of the Magnolia State once more.
"This game had a season's worth of excitement in it," Leach said afterwards. "It was a wild game. It was a very up and down game. About the time you thought it couldn't get crazier, it did."
Through all the emotional swings of the evening, the Dawgs clung to the Leach-inspired characteristics that have led to an 8-4 regular season, a third-place finish in what is year after year college football's toughest division and an attractive postseason bowl game – State's 13th consecutive season with a bowl.
Were the Dawgs the most excited to play Thursday? You bet. Examples were everywhere, none better than the hustle of Lideatrick Griffin. On the final play of the first quarter, an MSU fumble was loose on the field. An Ole Miss defender was in the process of picking it up with a real chance to scoop it and score. Griffin was having none of it.
The Bulldog speedster somehow, someway, went from running a receiving route to reversing course, charging for the loose ball and diving on it. Where did Griffin come from? How did he get there in time? Heart. He just flat out wanted it more.
That's what Leach and the coaching staff require from MSU. It's been ingrained in the Maroon and White fabric these last three years. It doesn't mean the Dawgs have won or will win every game, but they'll never be out-efforted.
They'll scratch. They'll claw. They'll persevere regardless of the circumstances.
Down 16-7 with halftime nearing in the rival's house? Some groups would've cowered. State stepped up.
In under two minutes' time, MSU drove 75 yards. Quarterback Will Rogers hit Griffin on a 19-yard pass to pull State within two and send the Rebels a resounding message. The Bulldogs aren't going away. They never go away.
"I think that was our biggest drive, probably since I've been here," Rogers said. "You could feel the momentum starting to go [Ole Miss'] way. Thankfully we were able to put a drive together and get some easy completions and hit the big play down on the goal line to Tulu."
It was a credit to Rogers and Griffin and every Bulldog in pads. It was also an acknowledgement of the personality Leach has passed on to his group through his preaching. No matter what happened before or what's to come, do your job on this play, right now.
That philosophy is what has made Leach the living legend he is as the Southeastern Conference's second-winningest coach with the fifth-most career victories of any coach in the Power 5.
No situation or team intimidates Leach. After topping Ole Miss, he now has 18 career wins over ranked teams while playing as an unranked team. That's the most of any coach in the Associated Press poll era.
History proves it. No Leach player or coach is going to back down from a challenge.
Ole Miss entered Thursday ranked among the country's top offensive attacks. Well coordinator Zach Arnett and the Bulldog defense collectively said, 'Bring it on.'
The State defense racked up 15 total tackles for loss. That's the Dawgs' second-most tackles for loss in a game since 2000. MSU held the Rebels' vaunted rushing attack to 78 yards – their lowest total all year.
The Bulldogs limited Ole Miss to just 4-of-17 on third-down conversion attempts and turned the Rebels over on downs on 4th-and-2 from the MSU 6-yard line late in the third quarter when the Dawgs were still trailing.
The biggest moment of the game was fittingly provided by that State defense. After Ole Miss scored late, the Rebels needed just a two-point conversion to tie. MSU lineman Randy Charlton's right paw prohibited that when he batted an Ole Miss pass to the ground.
After State secured the ensuing onside kick, Bulldog victory was solidified. Soon, the clock ran out and the party started.
"That locker room looks like it's on fire," Leach said postgame as his players partied by enjoying victory cigars.
Added Rogers later: "I'll remember this one for the rest of my life. It feels good."
Linebacker Nathaniel Watson was equally as pleased.
"It just felt great to hold [the Golden Egg] in my hands," Watson said.
From running back Dillon Johnson: "We're going crazy. It's just a great feeling."
It was a triumph for everyone.
"It was a tremendous win for our program and a tremendous win for our players," Leach said. "We're really excited about it and I'm excited for our fans and our players and our coaches and everybody involved and all Bulldogs everywhere."
It was also a win for Leach's details. Details like making sure you show up and give it your best every single day. Details like doing your job despite any noise or distractions. Details like not backing down, even when the odds turn against you.
The Bulldogs adhering to those details led Parkerson to rely on his Friday morning as he made his inscription that'll live forever on the trophy that declares Mississippi supremacy:
2022 Miss State 24, Ole Miss 22
