For the 24th time, the Egg Bowl gets a standalone national-television slot on Thanksgiving, scheduled to start at 7:30 ET on ESPN. Which begs the question, What the heck is an Egg Bowl?
It is the grand rivalry, which began in 1901, that pits No. 12 Ole Miss at Mississippi State, this time at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Miss. The Rebels lead the series, 64-46-6. The visiting team has covered each of the past eight meetings.
It’s actually the “Battle for the Golden Egg,” a trophy designed by students from both schools in 1927 that features a brass football on a wooden base. Footballs from that era resembled a more-ovoid rugby ball, or egg.
In 1979, Tom Patterson, a sportswriter for The Clarion-Ledger, called the game “The Egg Bowl.” It stuck—trivia, maybe, to win a mug of holiday grog.
The combination of Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart’s excellence (and maybe the all-time best signal-caller’s name) and Mississippi State’s Swiss-cheese defense of late make a compelling case to take the Rebels as we evaluate Egg Bowl odds.
Ole Miss at Mississippi State odds: Point spread, moneyline, total
Here are the latest college football betting odds for the No. 12 Rebels vs. Bulldogs:
No. 12 Ole Miss betting news: Dart tossing darts, staying healthy
In what has become a national game of attrition, at the quarterback position, Ole Miss has been doing something right because Dart, the 6-foot-2, 215-pound junior, has been healthy all season.
He had started his career with a bang, 391 yards and four TDs for USC at Washington State in 2021. He threw for 325 in a home rivalry loss to UCLA, hit the portal and landed with coach Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss.
Dart eclipsed 300 yards twice last season, but the Rebels lost five of their last six games, including a bowl defeat to Texas Tech.
He has had only two hiccups this season, both on the road—yup, at Alabama and at Georgia. In six of his past seven he has 12 touchdown passes and four running scores. Out of those 179 total throws, only two have been picked off.
Dart's QB Rating of 167.0 is 10th in the nation, ahead of Michael Penix Jr. of Washington, Quinn Ewers of Texas and Brady Cook of Missouri. He averages 9.9 yards per toss, tied for fourth with Michigan’s JJ McCarthy.
This season has been sweet for him, and senior receiver Tre Harris (18.7-yard average on 44 catches, eight TDs) has been a main beneficiary. Jordan Watkins (52 catches, 3 TDs) and Dayton Wade (15.1 average on 50 receptions, 4 TDs) are two of several assets.
Wade caught a 58-yard TD strike from Dart last week, one of his three TD passes that fueled the Rebels in their 35-3 pasting of Louisiana-Monroe.
Sophomore tailback Quinshon Judkins has been an ironman, too, running for 933 yards and 14 TDs (and nabbing a TD catch), playing all 11 games. He must salivate over the 647 ground yardage the Bulldogs have yielded in their past four tilts.
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Mississippi State betting news: Kiffin might air it out against porous secondary
The Bulldogs have struggled mightily on defense of late. In the past five games, they've let the other guys accumulate 2,222 total yards of offense, 444 a game. Foes have tallied eight passing touchdowns and scored 12 on the ground in that span.
The Bulldogs’ secondary has been hounded this season, as only Colorado State (72.7) and Vanderbilt (70.9) have let foes record a higher completion percentage than their 70.3.
That could entice Kiffin to opt for more of a passing attack. Even with a weapon like Dart, he has chosen to run the ball nearly 57 percent of the time, among the top quarter of the game’s most-frequent rushing squads.
That’s worked for Judkins, but the Rebels and Dart could put this game away early with an aerial bombardment.
Rebels stalwart senior QB Will Rogers had started 32 consecutive games until injuring his left (non-throwing) arm/shoulder Oct. 7 against Western Michigan.
He returned this past Saturday to go 12-for-27, for just 144 yards and two TDs in an easy 41-20 triumph over Southern Miss, whose defense (0.572 points per play) is ranked 131st in the country, ahead of only New Mexico and UMass.
The Rebels (0.345) are 48th. For the record, the Bulldogs (0.432) are No. 93.
Jo’Quavious Marks, the Dogs’ main tailback, injured his left leg at Arkansas. He returned last week with a mere 34 yards on 12 carries.
Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State prop picks
If any fumble props can be found, it could be wise to favor Ole Miss. It lost one to the other guys only once, in its 73-7 opener against FCS-member Mercer. Since then, no Rebel has lost control of the egg.
Dart has had five passes picked off, punter Charlie Pollock owning the other interception. Ole Miss is third in the land with a +1.1 turnover margin, the Bulldogs (-0.3), who have given away four fumbles and 12 interceptions, are tied for 92nd.
Take the Rebels to win both the fumble and overall turnover battles.
No. 12 Ole Miss at Mississippi State predictions ATS
The Bulldogs somehow kept it together, the week after Rogers was lost to an arm injury, in winning outright at Arkansas, 7-3, as 7-point underdogs. Three consecutive defeats followed in which they mustered only two TDs, and the defense yielded 102 points.
Since then, Mississippi State hasn’t had a 200-yard passing game. Rogers and Marks aren’t exactly in mid-season form.
Overall, it has failed to cover eight of its previous 10 games, making it one of the bottom 11 teams against the spread in the country. It gets Ole Miss and Dart at the wrong time.
Pick: Ole Miss
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