Earlier this season, Ole Miss’ Landshark defense was being mentioned in the same breath as some of the most vaunted defensive units of all time. While they’ve fallen off that historic pace, Ole Miss still ranks at the top of the nation in scoring defense and is one of the best overall units in the country. Mississippi State faces a tough task trying to move the ball in the Egg Bowl.

Ole Miss’ defense is big and fast, one that swarms to the ball with frightening speed. While they’ve struggled against some power running teams — LSU comes to mind — that’s not Mississippi State’s strength when it comes to running the ball. The Bulldogs are at their best when they get their zone-read attack moving quickly, attacking from all angles. There are some similarities to Auburn’s offense, and the Tigers torched Ole Miss for 248 yards.

Mississippi State tried to overpower Alabama, and the plan backfired. While the Bulldogs ended up racking up a lot of yards, with the problem being turnovers, the offense looked out of sync early on as they tried to batter the Crimson Tide with Dak Prescott.

Will that be the strategy against a defense that’s fallen back a bit over the last month? Robert Nkemdiche is a beast in the middle of the Ole Miss defensive line, and he’ll be a handful for the Bulldogs interior offensive linemen. Running a unique 4-2-5 defensive formation much of the time gives the Rebels the speed to stay out wide and contain Prescott and Josh Robinson.

The Bulldogs are unstoppable when they can get to 200 yards rushing, a number Ole Miss has only allowed twice this season. Whether or not State can mount a consistent ground attack will go a long way in determining their fate in this game.