Mr. Not a Fan with another great article.
I?m not going to link it because I don?t want to give that bastard clicks.
Neal McCready ? RebelGrove.com
Mississippi State deserved to lose the Egg Bowl.
That won?t be interpreted the right way, but at this point, who cares?
First, let?s give some credit to Ole Miss and Matt Luke. This team, one that had every reason to roll over multiple times over the past 10 months, never did.
Week after week, this Ole Miss team played hard. Week after week, the Rebels showed up. Sometimes, the results weren?t all that positive. Losses to California, Arkansas and Texas A&M prevented this team from doing something really special this fall. Wins over Vanderbilt and Kentucky stopped the bleeding.
Thursday night?s blowout win at Mississippi State assured that this group will be remembered fondly.
?I?m just so happy for these guys,? Ole Miss interim head coach Matt Luke said. ?I?m happy for these seniors. They went 3-1 against Mississippi State. They fought adversity all year. ?I?m going to remember this game the rest of my life.
?I have no regrets. This has been a dream of mine."
Ole Miss jumped on Mississippi State on the game?s opening drive and then caught the game?s biggest break, no pun intended at all, when Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald suffered a hideous ankle injury in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs never recovered offensively. Keytaon Thompson was basically ineffective, and Ole Miss teed off on defense, creating turnovers and taking the Bulldogs completely out of their comfort zone.
Another big throw from Jordan Ta?amu to A.J. Brown and another strong night from Jordan Wilkins pushed Ole Miss over the top, ending the Rebels? season at 6-6 and returning the Golden Egg trophy to Oxford.
It?s fitting this Ole Miss team ended on a high note. It didn?t deserve to be lumped in with all of the outside mess that tainted their season and ultimately cost them a bowl bid. After all, all of the outside stuff wasn?t their making.
Nope, all of this could?ve been avoided. Hugh Freeze?s tweets and total lack of public relations skills got the ball rolling. Mike Sheridan?s agenda fueled the fire.
But let?s keep this real: If not for Mississippi State?s active role, there likely never would have been a second notice of allegations against Ole Miss. If it weren?t for Mississippi State?s active role, Leo Lewis and Kobe Jones likely never would have interviewed with the NCAA.
Rivalries are fun. They make college football special. However, there?s nothing special about the Ole Miss-Mississippi State rivalry right now. It?s ugly. The rhetoric around the rivalry is ugly. The atmosphere is ugly.
A game that should be about greats such as Fred Smoot, Anthony Dixon, Kent Hull, Eric Moulds, Archie Manning, Eli Manning, Dexter McCluster and Deuce McAllister is instead known for Rebel Rags, lawsuits, a very poorly written book and overall nastiness. It?s spilled over onto the field, and frankly, it?s a bad look.
For at least a few days, thank goodness, it?s over. Then we'll get back to it. Ole Miss will receive sanctions from the COI any day now. The subsequent media reports won?t do anything to paint the rivalry in a more favorable light.
Mississippi State, meanwhile, will play a bowl game without Fitzgerald and possibly without Dan Mullen, who is a leading candidate at Tennessee. If they?re smart, regardless of Mullen's decision or lack thereof, the Bulldogs will chill a bit, realize how ridiculous this has gotten and dial things down.
However, as Thanksgiving night turned to Black Friday and another Egg Bowl was written into the history books, there was no reason to believe that will happen.
