This time, Ole Miss celebrated without penalty.

Matt Corral threw for 389 yards and 3 TDs and the Rebels held on for a tense 31-24 victory over rival Mississippi State on Saturday. The victory ended the Rebels’ 2-game losing streak in the Egg Bowl and atoned for last season’s wild ending.

It looked like Ole Miss might pull away early, but the Egg Bowl remained close until the end, when the Rebels recovered an onside kick in the final minutes to protect their lead.

Mississippi State had one final chance but needed to go 85 yards in the final 23 seconds. They came close, but Will Rogers’ final pass fell incomplete in the end zone as the buzzer sounded.

The late drama didn’t look like it would be necessary after the Rebels scored a couple of long touchdowns for a 21-7 lead, but Mississippi State scored just before halftime to make it a 1-possession game.

The Bulldogs cut the lead to as little as 3 when Rogers hit Austin Williams for a 7-yard touchdown midway through the 4th quarter.

The Rebels answered on the following drive. A long pass to Jonathan Mingo set up Jerrion Ealy’s 2nd rushing touchdown of the game to make it 31-21.

Mississippi State tried to answer, but their drive stalled and it had to settle for a short field goal to make it 31-24 with 2:08 left.

Corral was as explosive early as he has been all season long. He struck first on a 48-yard touchdown pass to Dontario Drummond. After that, Ole Miss recovered a fumble and Snoop Conner eventually punched in a touchdown to make it a 14-0 advantage in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs (2-6) scored a touchdown to inch closer, but then in the 2nd quarter Corral went deep once more. This time he found Braylon Sanders for an 81-yard touchdown.

However, Rogers engineered a 93-yard scoring drive, which he capped with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Malik Heath that put the Bulldogs right back in the game.

The second half was low scoring, with the first points coming on an Ole Miss field goal in the 4th quarter.

Corral topped 350 yards for the 5th time this season. His favorite target again was Elijah Moore, who caught 12 passes for 139 yards.

Rogers finished with 438 yards and 3 touchdowns for the Bulldogs.

Ole Miss ended a 2-game losing streak in the Egg Bowl.