STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Luke Morgan missed a 35-yard extra point after Mississippi receiver Elijah Moore was penalized for celebrating a touchdown by crawling and pretending to urinate like a dog, and Mississippi State ended up with a 21-20 victory Thursday night in the 116th Egg Bowl.
Ole Miss (4-8, 2-6 Southeastern Conference) pulled within a point with 4 seconds remaining on Matt Corral’s 2-yard pass to Moore, but Logan hooked the extra point after Moore cost the Rebels 15 yards.
Mississippi State (6-6, 3-5 Southeastern Conference) beat Ole Miss at home for the first since 2013.
The teams combined for seven sacks and 17 tackles for loss, and Mississippi State won the turnover battle 3-1.
The Bulldogs scored two first-half touchdowns, the first on Nick Gibsonone’s 27-yard run and the second on the next possession on quarterback Garrett Shrader’s 1-yard run. Ole Miss responded with two touchdowns of its own, with J.R. Plumlee scoring on a 2-yard run and Jerrion Ealy on a 5-yarder to tie it at 14 at the half.
Midway through the third quarter, the Bulldogs sacked Plumlee three times on the same drive, the third forcing a fumble. Seven plays later, Shrader scored on a 5-yard run to put Mississippi State up 21-14.
On the final drive of the game, Mississippi State committed three of its five total penalties and Ole Miss ran nine plays inside the 15 before eventually connecting for the touchdown.
THE TAKEAWAY
Ole Miss: The Rebels are young and continue to show signs of life under coach Matt Luke, but inconsistent play and the lack of a clear offensive strategy are the biggest reasons they’ll be sitting at home this bowl season.
Mississippi State: After a long season that fell well short of expectations, an emotional home win over a hated rival might just be enough to keep second-year head coach Joe Moorhead from losing his job. But maybe not.
