Oxford's own JJ Pegues ready to put a bow on his Ole Miss career with Egg Bowl as 'Mayor for a Day'
There are many things that can be said about JJ Pegues regarding his love for Ole Miss and his hometown of Oxford. They would all be true.
Plenty have embodied what it means to wear the Ole Miss jersey and those who are special enough to share the privilege of wearing No. 38 know Pegues earned the chance to do so.
But on Friday it will be a curtain call and a final bow for Oxford’s native son who will play his final game inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, taking on Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl.
When Pegues transferred back home from Auburn three years ago it felt like the right move. Since that day he has only emboldened that feeling with his play on the field and his acts off of it in the community.
“It means a lot,” Pegues said on Tuesday of his last game in Oxford. “I haven’t tried to think about it just because I know it’s going to hit different. I just thank my family for just being there for me through the tough times and my fans calling me ‘The Mayor.’ Just me giving back to this community. It’s the biggest thing that I wanted to do coming back.
“I don’t feel like God is done with me yet, here. I get to be the Mayor on (Friday). So maybe I can change some rules or something.”
Earlier this month the Oxford Board of Alderman voted to make Pegues Oxford’s Mayor for a day on November 29. This will probably go down as the first time an ‘acting’ mayor is also playing a football game.
Oxford Mayor Robyn Tannehill felt it was the right thing to do as all of Oxford calls Pegues that moniker when they see him around the city.
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“(Tannehill) texted me and said, ‘Hey, I’m watching the game and they’re calling you ‘The Mayor,’ and I actually want you to be the mayor for one day,'” Pegues said. “I said what about Mississippi State week and she was like, ‘Of course.'”
Pegues and Ole Miss have a game to play that could still carry some value beyond the Golden Egg trophy.
Last weekend’s loss at Florida all but extinguished the Rebels College Football Playoff hopes, or so they thought.
Tuesday’s latest CFP Top 25 rankings dropped Ole Miss five spots to No. 14 and the third team out of the 12-team field. So there is still a lot more help it needs plus a convincing win over Mississippi State will not hurt.
Despite the Bulldogs record, winless in the Southeastern Conference, Pegues is well aware of what the Egg Bowl brings and how the previous 11 games have gone means nothing on that day.
“Must win,” Pegues said. “No matter what the record it we’re still go in and give it our all. They think we’re ‘Kings of the Sip’ so we got to prove it.
“What happened last week, it happened, and that was a great Florida team in a hostile environment. But this is a game that we’ve all been waiting on and marked on our calendar. We just feel like if we go out there and play our brand of football and got our fans with us and we lock The Vaught, we’re going to get the win.”
