2022 At a Glance: Ole Miss and Mississippi State set for another Thanksgiving showdown
The records, season-long storylines and postseason possibilities take a backseat slightly when Ole Miss and Mississippi State see Thanksgiving Day on the calendar.
This year is no different as once again the 2022 regular season will conclude with the annual Egg Bowl showdown between the two in-state rivals.
In recent years the Egg Bowl has had some fairly significant implications to the college football landscape and could easily be sourced back to the reason Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin and Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach are in Mississippi for their third seasons.
With the changing of the guard atop each school’s football programs in 2019 it has allowed for some of the toxicity that is the Egg Bowl rivalry to simmer a bit. Mostly due to the lack of rhetoric to fuel it by Kiffin and Leach.
Two years ago the 2020 edition of the Egg Bowl may not have meant much to Kiffin, or he had not had time to let it soak in what it means to the state.
Fast forward to this season and Kiffin has allowed himself to get a grasp on what this Thanksgiving tradition means too so many Mississippians. He also is aware of what it would mean to go up 3-0 over Leach.
“Again, we got a lot of work to do before we ever get to that game,” Kiffin said when asked during SEC Media Days. “It’s been exciting to be fortunate to be 2-0 in that. That means a lot to us, but especially to the people of Mississippi obviously.
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“Until you get into those unique rivalries, you can watch ’em on TV like I used to on Thanksgiving, hear about ’em, but you really don’t know until you get to a place like Mississippi and you see how much it means to the people. They’re not kidding when they say their next 364 days will be affected, when the common fan says that, they’re serious. That has been neat to be able to give that to our fans. Hopefully we can continue that.”
On the field the Egg Bowl series has firmly shifted to Ole Miss over the last couple seasons and 2022 could be no different.
Ole Miss has won by an average of 8.5 points the last two meetings and scored exactly 31 points each game. Prior to winning in 2020 the Rebels were looking a two-game losing skid of their own, but have won six of the last 10 games.
On paper it feels like Ole Miss has the better team when it comes to overall talent across the board and depth. But of course there are 11 games over 12 weeks that must be played by both teams before Thanksgiving night and the momentum and narratives could change drastically for each.
When Ole Miss gets to Mississippi State on the schedule they will be coming off a November stretch of hosting Alabama then traveling to Arkansas for what is always a tough game to win in Fayetteville.
Still, when the two teams tee it up on Nov. 24 at 6 p.m. CT it still feels very much like Ole Miss’ game to lose in Oxford.
