{"id":82984,"date":"2025-11-26T17:30:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T22:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=82984"},"modified":"2025-11-26T16:27:45","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T21:27:45","slug":"2025-egg-bowl-rebels-seeking-first-playoff-berth-in-school-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/11\/26\/2025-egg-bowl-rebels-seeking-first-playoff-berth-in-school-history\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 Egg Bowl: Rebels Seeking First Ever Playoff Berth"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Egg Bowl is one of the most well-known rivalries in all of college football. It’s no surprise that Ole Miss and Mississippi State don’t get along. Not the players. Not the coaches. And certainly not the fans. Back in the days when recruiting was more local, the teams were comprised of a lot of guys who grew up hating the other school. These days, that’s changed slightly, but for the fans, it never will.<\/div>\n
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And that’s primarily at a time when both schools have largely been average or below average in the SEC. This year, not only is there a circus surrounding Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin<\/a> and what he is going to do following the game, regarding potentially taking another job, but there’s also the fact that the Rebels are a win away from a College Football Playoff berth. Throwing huge stakes into a rivalry already among the most hostile in the country is going to create an interesting environment in Starkville on Friday.<\/div>\n
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So, does Ole Miss put the distractions aside and advance to the playoff? Or can Mississippi State play spoiler and ultimately ruin their biggest rival’s best season in school history?<\/div>\n

Previewing the 2025 Egg Bowl<\/h2>\n

How Can Mississippi State Pull Off the Upset?<\/h3>\n
Put bluntly, it won’t be with defense.<\/div>\n
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The Bulldogs’ defense has been abysmal all season long. To make matters worse, it’s been a balanced effort of awfulness. On the ground, they’re giving up 190 yards per game. In terms of passing defense, they’re giving up just over 200 yards per game. And they find themselves 92nd in the country in scoring defense. Now they take on an Ole Miss team that is third in the country in yards per game. That sets up a recipe for disaster from a defensive standpoint for Mississippi State. If they can find a way to flip the script, things could always change. However, 11 games in, there’s no evidence that that is something that’s going to change.<\/div>\n
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If there’s a bright side for Bulldog fans, it’s the fact that the offense has been balanced, as well. They’re putting up over 150 yards per game rushing, to go along with 242 yards per game through the air. Against an Ole Miss defense that is sometimes prone to giving up big plays, there could be a chance for success. Given the likelihood that points may be scored freely on the other end, they’re going to need these big plays in a major way.<\/div>\n
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The Bulldogs are going to need to score 30+ to have a chance in this one. That’s going to come down to Blake Shapen<\/a> and the offense being efficient and having success, as well as the defense finding a way to force a turnover or two. If they can do those things, there’s going to be a chance to pull off the upset. However, if they struggle to do those two things, it could be a long day for Jeff Lebby’s squad.<\/div>\n
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Photo Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Can Ole Miss Focus Well Enough to Get the Road Win?<\/h3>\n
The easy answer for Ole Miss to clinch their first-ever playoff berth is to avoid the outside noise. If they don’t get caught up in those distractions, they should win this game rather handily. At least that’s what the numbers would suggest.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
From an offensive standpoint, it starts with the running game. Against a Bulldog defense that essentially hasn’t been able to stop anyone on the ground, expect Kewan Lacy<\/a> to be a big part of the game plan early on. If they can have success with the rushing attack, that’s when you can expect to see Trinidad Chambliss<\/a> try to hit a big pass or two downfield. The other thing that is likely going to be seen is Mississippi State trying to bring pressure. Because of this, don’t be surprised to see a few screen passes or quick slants to guys like Winston Watkins<\/a> or De’Zhaun Stribling<\/a> to ease up some of the rush.<\/div>\n
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As for the defensive side of things, the key is to keep Shapen in the pocket. Despite having mediocre rushing stats, he can move, if needed. A big reason for him not having more rushing yards in his career is due to sacks being taken out of a quarterback’s rushing totals in college. And despite being a decent passer, he’s shown to be a bit turnover-prone this season. He’s thrown eight interceptions on the season, including two in his last game. For the Rebels, it has to start with making Shapen beat you with his arm. Part of stopping Mississippi State’s offense is also slowing down Brenen Thompson<\/a>, who is second in the SEC in receiving yards.<\/div>\n
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Covering Thompson and stopping the run will be huge for the Rebels in this one.<\/div>\n

2025 Egg Bowl: Predictions<\/h3>\n
We all know about the Kiffin circus. It’s been covered endlessly. But we also know there appears to be an end in sight, no matter what his decision ultimately is. That should ease some of the tension from the Ole Miss players. The other side is that there’s a playoff berth at stake. Regardless of the coaching drama, if the players can’t get hyped enough to play well with all that’s on the line, there’s a bigger issue at hand.<\/div>\n
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And from a talent standpoint, the disparity is likely simply still too large. So Mississippi State is going to come out swinging, and they’re likely going to keep this one close. However, in the end, Ole Miss finds a way to squeak out a win in a huge rivalry on the road and advance to their first-ever College Football Playoff.<\/div>\n

Ole Miss 38, Mississippi State 27<\/h3>\n

How to Watch Ole Miss vs Mississippi State<\/h3>\n

Date: Friday, November 28; Time: 12:00 pm ET<\/p>\n

Location: Davis-Wade Stadium<\/p>\n

TV: ABC<\/p>\n

Main Photo: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Egg Bowl is one of the most well-known rivalries in all of college football. It’s no surprise that Ole Miss and Mississippi State don’t get along. Not the players. Not the coaches. And certainly not the fans. Back in the days when recruiting was more local, the teams were comprised of a lot of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4571,"featured_media":83065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,35585,17,35582,3],"tags":[2453,8272,495],"class_list":["post-82984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-mississippi-state-bulldogs","category-news","category-ole-miss-rebels","category-sec","tag-egg-bowl","tag-jeff-lebby","tag-lane-kiffin"],"modified_by":"Kate Pearson Halyburton, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4571"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82984"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82984\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83067,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82984\/revisions\/83067"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}