Since it's Thanksgiving it's only natural that we talk about the Egg Bowl because this game, featuring #4 Mississippi State and #19 Ole Miss, is traditionally played during Thanksgiving week, and in several seasons, actually on Thanksgiving Day.
These two in-state rivals first played in 1901, and have played for the Golden Egg Trophy since 1927.
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| Rockin Reb ready to roll |
Records and titles aside, this is still a big game for the Ole Miss Rebels and anyone else that loves the history of a great Southern football rivalry.
To give us greater insight into this heated rivalry we've asked Rockin Reb to share his thoughts.
Rockin Reb is an Ole Miss alum and a die hard Rebel fan. I first met Rockin Reb twenty years ago when he was a power company exec and we were wrangling over an electric bill. We decided to split the difference once we discovered we were both SEC alums and fans.
As a side note, Rockin Reb was a lineman on the 1967 Marietta Blue Devils State Championship football team...the only Cobb County team to ever win a State Championship. So he knows his football.
Let's start with a little Question & Answer with Rockin Reb.
TIME FOR Q&A WITH ROCKIN REB...
WWW: What was your very first college football game attended?
RR: Hard to say which was the first but it was probably when I was 6 or 7. The Georgia/Georgia Tech freshman game was still a very big deal in the 50's and 60's and the game was always played on Thanksgiving day. It was a tradition to go to my grandfather's farm and hunt small game in the morning, have a big Thanksgiving meal, then go to the football game in the afternoon. The whole Kelly family attended.
WWW: When was your first Ole Miss game experience?
RR: My parents went to see Ole Miss play in a couple of the mid sixties Sugar Bowls when the Rebels, during their heyday, seemed to haven taken up permanent residence in that bowl. During that time frame, I was intensely interested in everything about the Ole Miss Rebels and could name all the players. I still have the Ole Miss pennant they brought me from one of those games and it stayed on the wall in my room right beside a Georgia Bulldog pennant. It killed my father (who is a Georgia grad) when I decided to matriculate at Oxford.
WWW: What attracted you to attend Ole Miss?
RR: When I was at Marietta High I had a B-Team and Varsity Coach by the name of Terry Anthony who had been at Ole Miss during the late 50's , early 60's heyday and all he could talk about at every football practice and during the school year was Ole Miss....the beauty of the campus, the beautiful coed's,the football teams, the beautiful coeds, the two Miss America's, and the other beautiful coed's. So all of this stuck with me and along with the subliminal influence of the Ole Miss Sugar Bowl pennant staring down from the wall and it just seemed like the place for me to be!!!!
WWW: Any Egg Bowl memories?
RR: Went to a few egg Bowls during the early 70's but with the proliferation of TV games and the fact that it was for years a Thanksgiving game meant a lot of the games were watched in the comfort of the living room...not without side bets with other Maroon Bullpuppy friends.
WWW: We’ve heard so much about tailgating in the Grove. Talk to us about that?
RR: Tailgating in the grove is one of college football's seminal experiences, even when the OM football team wasn't doing so well. The Grove was featured for years as the hallmark experience of college football tailgating. Where else can you find chandeliers hanging over a 7 course tailgating meal served with proper silver serving trays and candelabras.
WWW: For people like me, we’re confused about the team name. Rebels? Black Bears? Rebel Black Bears? Black Rebel Bears? Help us.
RR: The PC movement at Ole Miss has been in full flower for the last 15 years and the administration felt like a mascot change would be a good idea since Colonel Reb and his plantation owner-look reminded everyone of different more unpleasant era in OM history. The student body was tasked with the job of coming up with a new name. Out of many entries they came up with "black bear" centered on the fact that numerous black bears used to roam the Mississippi delta. Of course it's hard to even find a black bear in Mississippi anymore but that's besides the point. But they had to get rid of Colonel Reb, the rebel battle flag, Dixie with love, and anything else that reminded the nation of the ugliness caused by the push back against integration during the mid sixties.
WWW: The Rebels were flying high in the early stages of the season. How are Ole Miss fans dealing with the drop in rankings?
RR: Hugh Freeze has done a fantastic job bringing respectability back to a once proud Ole Miss program. He recruits at a championship level and regularly goes head to head with Saban, Miles, Richt and Malzahn for top talent. With that said, after the disappointing LSU and heartbreaking Allbarn game, a lot of the air seemed to be sucked out of the team and the fan base. After the 7-0 start you actually began to believe this team could be headed for the Georgia Dome and a chance at an SEC championship. After the 3rd loss to Arkansas the tenor on the Ole Miss Spirit chatboard was WTF. All we can do now is be a spoiler for Mistake's season by whippin there arse in the eggbowl.
WWW: The future of Ole Miss competing in a ball buster division with Bama, Auburn, LSU, Texas A&M, etc., etc. That’s a tough row to hoe. Can Ole Miss ever get to the Mountain Top (the Georgia Dome?).
RR: As I said earlier, Hugh Freeze has a plan to make OM successful and in year 3 his plan was to go to a bowl. This will be his 3rd bowl eligible team so he is way ahead of his original plan. To be able to compete with the juggernauts of the west division of the SEC he has been recruiting to the highest levels ever experienced in Ole Miss history. He learned how to relentlessly recruit high value players at this level from former OM head coach Ed Orgeron. Luckily Hugh has a good offensive scheme to go along with his recruiting something his mentor never had. If he keeps recruiting at this level Ole Miss will be a contender year in and year out for the SEC championship. Keep your eye on year four and five.
PLEASE WELCOME ROCKIN REB....
Well, as OM icon the late beloved Chucky Mullins used to
say "Its Time"....Its time for the Ole Miss Rebels to rise up, forget
the Arkansas game and kick some Maroon/bullpuppy tail and take the Egg Bowl
trophy back from the bullies. The Big advantage Ole Miss will have is the game
is being played in the friendly confines of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in
Oxford. Since 1998 - which is the last 16 games - OM won in Starkvegas once in
2003, and Misstake has only one lone win in Oxford (2010). Other than those
games the home team has won each time.
This is also one of those rivalry contests where you just have to throw the records out and tee it up. The stakes are high for both teams. Misstake is 10-1 overall and sporting a 6-1 sec record whereas Ole Miss is 8-3 with a 4-3 SEC record. Ole Miss needs this win to salvage this season and prove that their Alabama win was not a fluke and will relish the spoiler role by keeping the bullies out of the College football playoff picture.
One intangible for Ole Miss is that Coach Hugh Freeze more than any other coach since Billy"Bulldog"Brewer gets the importance of this game for recruiting, bragging rights and one upsmanship. As a native Mississippian.he understands the importance of the game for the fans of Ole Miss.
Ole Miss QB Bo Wallace still has a fairly serious ankle sprain from the Arkansas game and Laremy Tunsil, our stud left tackle, is still having trouble with a shoulder that keeps popping out of joint and kept him out of the second half of the Arkansas game. Both players are still planning on starting the game.
It's a matter of which team wants it more.
My prediction goes with my
heart...Hoddy Toddy Ole Miss prevails 24-10.
Look for your GREAT EIGHT™ WINNING PICKS tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving!
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