Ole Miss was left for dead.
However, you would’ve never known that on Saturday afternoon. The Rebels — a team who had climbed as high as No. 3 in the nation and lost three of four entering the Egg Bowl — dominated Mississippi State behind a the nation’s top defense and a running game brought to life on the legs of junior Jaylen Walton.
Ole Miss lost its best offensive player to injury in a four-point loss to Auburn on the first Saturday of November, and the offense followed suit, unable to generate any kind of production from the wide receiver position after the injury to Laquon Treadwell, coupled with a run game that had been non-existent all season.
Three losses later, the 7-0 start, win over then-No. 3 Alabama and a top-five ranking seemed more like an aberration than the trajectory of the program and a validation of what head coach Hugh Freeze is building in Oxford.
Instead of folding after an embarrassing 30-0 loss to Arkansas, Ole Miss — a home underdog — punched the Bulldogs in the mouth early and never looked back. Dan Mullen’s fourth-ranked Bulldogs team held the lead only once Saturday afternoon, but it never felt as if Mississippi State would take control.
Saturday’s win, though, did serve as a validation of what Freeze is building. The Rebels won convincingly and now are in position for a 10-win season in just Freeze’s third year.
That, in and of itself, is a feat considering how poorly this team played just eight days ago in Fayetteville.
“We put everything in the trash preparing for this one. We went into it with clear hearts, minds, and just decided that we were going to go out and play hard,” Freeze said following the win. “Our word for the week was resolve. We played with great resolve for 60 minutes. You see where that put us. Tonight we were the better team.
“It’s obviously good to win a rivalry game. It’s a great feeling to reclaim the pride of our program and win the Egg Bowl.”
Ole Miss had all of the momentum and energy from the opening kickoff. After trading three-and-outs, Bo Wallace found Evan Engram on a 46-yard strike to set up a Wallace one-yard touchdown run to give the Rebels an early 7-0 lead, a lead they would only relinquish once.
They had an answer, however.
Wallace completed five-of-eight passes in the second half on Senior Day on an injured ankle, sparking a Rebels offense that scored 24 points in the second half.
“I felt like how last year ended pushed me the entire offseason, and there wasn’t really a day that went by that I didn’t think about it,” Wallace said. “This one feels great, I can’t even put into words how it feels.”
Ole Miss received outstanding efforts from Wallace, Engram, Walton to fuel an offense that had been otherwise dormant since Treadwell’s injury.
The Rebels also received another strong outing from the Landshark defense, which has led Ole Miss all season.
Dave Wommack’s defense surrendered 445 yards of total offense to the Bulldogs, but the numbers skew the effort. Ole Miss dominated the Mississippi State offense, a unit that finished tops in the SEC.
Dak Prescott and company mustered just 17 points, tied for a season low. The Rebels shut down Mississippi State’s rushing attack led by Prescott and Josh Robinson. The two combined for just 92 yards on the ground.
Ole Miss got solid performances from D.T. Schackelford and C.J. Johnson, both of whom have fought injuries. The two combined for 13 tackles on Saturday afternoon. Johnson — who missed last season’s Egg Bowl — recorded 1.5 tackles-for-loss and one sack, totaling 20 yards.
“[Playing in the Egg Bowl] is something I’ve been thinking about so long. I didn’t get to play them last year. Watching that game at home, I knew I could help the team when we lost,” Johnson said. “I really took it to heart. Tonight, I was making sure everyone on the sideline knew if they were going to beat us, they were going to have to kill us.”
Shackelford made him presence felt early, stuffing the interior of the defensive line and closing running lanes.
“We worked hard all week and prepared ourselves,” Shackelford said. “You can pretty much throw records out the window in rivalry games. We were able to come out with a victory.”
After living in Birmingham, Ala., Jordan left the ground zero of SEC Nation to head south to Florida to tell the unique stories of the renowned tradition of SEC football. In his free time, his mission is to find the best locales around.
