Rapid Reaction: Mississippi State blows title chances with Egg Bowl loss
Here are some quick thoughts from Mississippi State’s 31-17 loss to Ole Miss in Saturday’s Egg Bowl in Oxford:
Related: Egg Bowl game highlights (video)
What it means: Mississippi State’s loss means it won’t win the SEC West and likely won’t be a part of the inaugural four-team College Football Playoff this winter. The Bulldogs began the year 9-0 and spent five weeks this season ranked No. 1 in the nation. However, two losses in its final three games, both coming against ranked teams, knocked MSU out of title contention. The loss also means the Golden Egg trophy belongs to Ole Miss for the next calendar year, and Mississippi State and its fans are sure to hear all about it for the next 365 days.
What I liked: The lack of turnovers. Ole Miss may have won this game, but it failed to force a turnover for the first time in 35 games dating back to the 2012 season. The Bulldogs never set the Rebels up with a short field or allowed them to score any points on the defense, which kept them in this game even as they struggled to find a rhythm on offense. Eventually Ole Miss found ways to score with big plays on offense, but the MSU offense did not make the Rebels task any easier, and that deserves some credit even in a losing effort.
What I didn’t like: Mississippi State’s poor run defense in Saturday’s loss. The Rebels entered this year’s Egg Bowl with the SEC’s No. 10 rushing offense, yet it ran for 205 yards at 6.6 yards per carry against a Bulldogs defense that rarely struggles to stop the run. The balance Ole Miss was able to maintain on offense thanks to its promising rushing attack allowed it to post 31 points on the Bulldogs, the most MSU has allowed in a game since an Oct. 25 win over Kentucky. Had the Bulldogs stopped the run like most of the Rebels’ other SEC opponents, it might have had a chance to steal a road victory on Saturday.
Who’s the man: Devon Bell is the man for the way he impacted the field position battle in this game. The Bulldogs were inconsistent on offense and failed to stifle a banged-up Ole Miss offense when it possessed the ball, but Bell was huge for the special teams in a losing effort. He was called upon eight times and averaged better than 45 yards per punt, landing four punts inside the Ole Miss 20 without a single touchback on the evening. Ultimately the Ole Miss offense was able to overcome its consistently poor field position, but Bell did all he could to keep Mississippi State afloat through its rockiest stretches on Saturday.
Key play: The Bulldogs trailed by just seven points late in the third quarter and appeared to have won back the momentum when punter Devon Bell pinned the Ole Miss offense inside its own 10 yard line. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, Rebels’ tailback Jaylen Walton followed that punt with one of the plays of the year in the SEC. Walton took a first down carry and ran right, only to reverse course to the left, break a tackle then burst down the left sideline for a 91-yard touchdown. His impressive score put Ole Miss in front by 14 points, and although the Bulldogs answered with another touchdown of their own after Walton’s run they were never able to overcome the two-touchdown deficit.
What’s next: Mississippi State closed the regular season 10-2 and will now await the Dec. 7 announcement regarding which bowl game it will be participating in this winter. The Bulldogs still maintain a great shot at reaching a New Year’s Six bowl, but it is highly unlikely they’ll get to compete in the College Football Playoff this season after suffering their second loss of the season in Week 14.