Dan Mullen: Identifying His Top 10 Wins at Mississippi State

Nov 16, 2013; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs fans during the game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Davis Wade Stadium. Alabama Crimson Tide defeat the Mississippi State Bulldogs with a score of 20-7. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports

Number 10: 2011 Egg Bowl

Dan Mullen knew when he arrived at Mississippi State he had to revitalize the fire of the Egg Bowl rivalry. It is no secret that Mississippi State fans don’t like Ole Miss, and Mullen knew the game between Mississippi State and the Ole Miss Rebels had to be priority number one for him as a head coach.

The setup
The Mississippi State Bulldogs entered the 2011 football season with some relatively high expectations. The Bulldogs were coming off a breakthrough season under Mullen in 2010, and there were many who thought the Bulldogs were ready to take the next step as a program.

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The Bulldogs struggled to meet those expectations. Chris Relf didn’t improve the way many thought he would in his senior season, and it led to an offense that sputtered at times. Coming into the game against “The School Up North” as Dan Mullen has made a habit of referring to Ole Miss, the Bulldogs were 5-6 and needed the Egg Bowl to secure bowl eligibility.

Ole Miss was a disaster in 2011. The Rebels fired Head Football Coach Houston Nutt halfway through the season, and there was very little for the remaining players to really play for. The Rebels only had two wins as they made their way to Starkville.

The outcome

Very few expected the game to be close, and it wasn’t. Mississippi State controlled the game from start to finish, and the Bulldogs won easily 31-3. The reason this game makes the list is because it secured bowl eligibility for the Bulldogs for the second consecutive year under Mullen, and allowed them to have a winning season for the second year in a row as well.

Plus, it’s always fun to beat your rival.

Next: Calling (and beating) the Hogs