Caleb Harris
The Ole Miss Rebels (8-4, 4-4 SEC) fell to in-state rival Mississippi State (8-4, 4-4) 24-22 on Thanksgiving night for the annual Egg Bowl. Ole Miss has dropped three straight games since beating Texas A&M in late October. Here, I will be grading the performances of each unit for Ole Miss.
Offense: C-
Sophomore quarterback Jaxson Dart threw for 250 yards passing, going 30/38 with two touchdowns and zero interceptions. His performance alone deserves a B+, but a few dropped passes from receivers held him back from possibly reaching the 300-yard mark in passing.
Unfortunately, quarterback play was the only positive on offense. The offense was unable to sustain consistent drives and the driving force of the Rebels offense, the rushing game, was held to just 79 yards. The only bright spot was Quinshon Judkins with 91 yards rushing on 4.2 yards per carry.
To summarize, the offense scored only two touchdowns in the whole game.
Defense: B+
This was undoubtedly one of the best defensive performances from the Ole Miss Rebels this season.
Mississippi State had 14 drives, and the Rebels forced four three-and-outs, one interception, a fumble recovery and a fourth-down stop. The Rebels’ defense had three sacks led by Tavius Robinson.
The defense only allowed 239 yards through the air and 97 yards rushing. I can’t give the defense an A because they allowed State to score before the end of the first half to bring the game to a 16-14 Ole Miss lead.
Special Teams: B-
The only reason why this is not a C is because Jonathan Cruz went three-for-three on goal attempts including a 49-yarder.
The punt and kickoff return units looked very shaky based on a few explosive runs by the return unit for the Bulldogs. The Rebels’ punter was also shaky in some of his punts which led to the Bulldogs averaging 39 yards to start their drives.
Overall Grade: C+
It wasn’t enough for the defense to play stellar as they could not overcome the offense’s inability to sustain drives.
The Rebels’ offense had six three-and-outs and some suspicious play calling. There also appeared to be a lack of adjustment on the offensive side of the ball until the final drive that resulted in a touchdown.
This was a two-point conversion away from a potential chance to win a third-straight Egg Bowl, but it came up short. Ole Miss played well but not well enough to win the game.
