Interim head coach Greg Knox recaps lessons learned in Egg Bowl, past two weeks

The past two weeks or so have been a trying time for Mississippi State interim head coach Greg Knox and the Bulldog players. That journey came to a close Thursday night as the Bulldogs dropped a 17-7 decision to No. 12 Ole Miss at Davis Wade Stadium.

For the second time in his State coaching career, Knox was the interim head coach for the Bulldogs. Following the Thanksgiving night setback, Knox showed his appreciation for the effort and fight his team showed the last two weeks.

“Great group of seniors,” said Knox. “They took control and led this team. I can’t thank them enough for all of the things they did during the rough times. They really did everything they could and I appreciate them.

“It’s been a tough two weeks. I thought with the approach we had, it worked. It was all about the mindset of the kids and I thought they bought in with everything I was trying to sell. I learned a lot, too.”

Trailing 3-0 at halftime, Mississippi State briefly grabbed momentum early in the third quarter. The Bulldogs put together their best drive of the game and a Will Rogers‘ one-yard touchdown run gave State a 7-3 lead with 8:33 remaining in the third quarter.

On the following drive, State forced Ole Miss into a 4th and 1 in the Rebels’ territory. However, a review of the third-down play brought about a targeting call on State linebacker DeShawn Page. Ole Miss took advantage and Quinshon Judkins capped off that drive with a two-yard touchdown run. It gave Ole Miss a 10-7 lead with 4:47 left in the third quarter and the Rebels never trailed again.

“That was a big change of momentum for them,” Knox said of the targeting call. “It was probably the biggest play of the game.”

Later in the third quarter, State faced a 4th and 1 in its own territory and Knox opted to punt. He noted of that decision following the game and explained his call.

“I didn’t want to put our defense in that situation,” explained Knox. “I did not want to give them field position like that. I made the decision and we were going to punt to pin them deep and try to gain an advantage at that point.”

State did have other opportunities to climb back into the game but freshman kicker Kyle Ferrie missed a 50-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter. Ferrie also missed a 42-yard field towards the end of the first half that would have tied the game at halftime.

“(Ole Miss) moved around a bit on defense,” Knox noted. “Will (Rogers) did some great things but we didn’t manage things well. As an offensive staff we needed to do better but the kids played extremely hard. We just needed to execute better. You got to put points on the board. This week we were not able to do that and we needed consistency. We didn’t get it done.”

On the night, Rogers was 25 of 39 passing for 207 yards while Zavion Thomas had six catches for 88 yards. State only rushed for 96 yards on the night with Woody Marks having 12 carries for just 39 yards.

“Will is a determined young man that will probably be a great coach one day,” Knox mentioned. “He spoke to the team this morning and he is a very passionate young man. I can see him being a great coach. He is going to give you everything he has and he did tonight.”

For now, Mississippi State faces an uncertain future. The program is winding down a coaching search to replace former head coach Zach Arnett, who was fired after 10 games this season. But regardless of that future, Knox was thankful for the opportunity and the experience he had.

“We took an 11-day journey and I thought they learned a lot in 11 days,” said Knox. “Football teaches you so much about life and how to handle opposition. It is a mental mindset you face. We started every day with the word ‘today’ and what we had to do today and try to maximize the day.

“I thought we did that and went to work. This group of guys really bought into what I was selling and it started Monday after the Texas A&M game and continued all the way up to tonight. A lot of them expressed the things they learned and those lessons will carry on with them in their life.”