Mississippi State football falls flat against Ole Miss Rebels in 2023 Egg Bowl

A disappointing Mississippi State football (regular) season is coming to a close as the Bulldogs fell in frustrating fashion in the 2023 Egg Bowl.

Interim head coach Greg Knox certainly had the Bulldogs ready to play in the 2023 Egg Bowl. He deserves a ton of credit for having the Bulldogs prepared to go toe-to-toe with a much more complete Ole Miss Rebels team.

But when the Battle for the Golden Egg came to an end, Ole Miss came out on top of the bitter rivalry matchup.

Mississippi State was hoping to keep the Golden Egg trophy in Starkville after last year’s thrilling matchup with Ole Miss, but it wasn’t meant to be. Lane Kiffin’s Rebels managed to escape Starkville with a 17-7 victory over the Bulldogs.

Ole Miss was able to set an early tone and stymied a struggling Mississippi State offense regularly early on in the game. But the Bulldogs weren’t alone in failing to sustain drives early on. MSU defensive coordinator Matt Brock managed to force Kiffin’s offense to punt with regularity early on.

Mississippi State football falls to Ole Miss Rebels in 2023 Egg Bowl

The Ole Miss offense eventually found its footing and the Rebels were able to get Quinshon Judkins going. Eventually, midway in the second quarter, Ole Miss took a 3-0 lead over MSU with a 36-yard field goal.

State tried to counter and ended up missing a field goal of its own, but the Bulldogs were able to find some life in the second quarter as MSU offensive coordinator Kevin Barbay and MSU QB Will Rogers got the offense into a rhythm.

And in the third quarter, that paid off.

Will Rogers was able to lead a touchdown scoring drive and he was able to score with his feet, giving MSU a 7-3 advantage. That lead didn’t last long. Ole Miss responded with a touchdown drive of their own to go up 10-7.

And while there was a controversial targeting call/Jaxson Dart diving injury moment on the drive, Ole Miss was able to pivot the momentum in the game and held on to win.

Because just when it looked like MSU might have found a way to get back into the game, Jaxson Dart hit Caden Prieskorn for a 26-yard score, ballooning the Rebel lead back to 17-7. And that was enough to put the game out of reach.

MSU wasn’t able to mount a comeback. The Bulldogs routinely struggled to score. They missed two field goals. They just simply didn’t look like a great team. And now they suffered a gut punch of a loss to an Ole Miss team that, while inconsistent, was clearly better. But now we can turn fully to the coaching search and the future of MSU football.