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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Triumphs over Mississippi State in Egg Bowl
11/25/2006 | Football
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - Marshay Green returned a punt 47 yards for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter to give Ole Miss a 20-17 win over Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl on Saturday.
The game featured little offense, but the Rebels (4-8, 2-6 SEC) managed a touchdown pass to defensive end Greg Hardy early in the game and held on to the victory with the help of two short field goals by Joshua Shene.
Mississippi State kicker Adam Carlson missed a 51-yard field goal that would have tied the game as time expired.
Ole Miss returns the Egg Bowl trophy given to the winner to Oxford for the fourth time in the last five years.
The Bulldogs (3-9, 1-7) finish with the worst record in the SEC and have not won more than three games in a season since 2000.
Omarr Conner led a late rally to get the Bulldogs to 20-17 on an 8-yard touchdown pass to Jason Husband with 2:20 remaining. But Mico McSwain recovered Mississippi State's ensuing onside kick attempt to end one threat.
Mississippi State controlled the game in the first half as freshman tailback Anthony Dixon rushed for 97 of his 125 yards, including a 2-yard dive late in the second quarter that tied it 10-10 at halftime.
Mississippi State held Ole Miss running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis 1 yard short of 1,000 for the season. He finished with 37 yards.
Ole Miss took a lead on its first drive when Brent Schaeffer hit Hardy for a 23-yard touchdown. Hardy, a high school tight end who stands 6-foot-4, lined up at wide receiver and outleaped 5-11 Keith Fitzhugh for the score with 11:02 left in the first quarter.
Ole Miss had little offensive success the rest of the way with 200 total yards.
The Rebels now lead the all-time series 59-38-6.
GAME NOTES
SERIES INFORMATION
Ole Miss improves to 59-38-6 in the all-time series with
The Rebels have taken four of the last five meetings.
The home team has won seven of the last eight encounters.
Ole Miss and
This marks the first “Egg Bowl” victory for Ole Miss head coach Ed Orgeron.
GENERAL NOTES
The Ole Miss senior class was honored in pregame ceremonies ... The nine Rebel seniors include Bryan Brown, Charles Clark, Keith Houston, Lawrence Lilly, Trumaine McBride, James McCoy, Will Moseley, Andrew Wicker and Patrick Willis.
Attendance: 57,658
STARTER NOTES
Sophomore Mico McSwain earned his first start of the year at running back ... He started six games in the backfield as a redshirt freshman a year ago, but made his only start this year at flanker.
Junior Bruce Hall made the first start of his Ole Miss career at quarterback ... Hall came to Ole Miss as a quarterback but moved to tailback in spring drills.
Junior Brent Schaeffer made his first career start at wide receiver ... It was his only play of the game at wideout.
OFFENSIVE NOTES
Junior RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis finished the year with 999 yards on the ground, notching the fourth-highest, single-season rushing total in school history ... Green-Ellis led Ole Miss in rushing in all 12 games, despite a season-low 37 yards today.
Freshman Greg Hardy caught a 23-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter ... It was the first offensive play of the year for the defensive end.
Junior QB Brent Schaeffer tossed a touchdown for the fourth straight game ... His nine TD passes this year is the Rebels’ most since 2003.
Sophomore WR Mike Wallace recorded at least one catch for the 11th straight game.
DEFENSIVE NOTES
In his final game in the Red and Blue, senior LB Patrick Willis led the Rebel defense with 13 tackles (seven solo) ... Willis recorded 10 or more tackles in 18 of his final 20 games ... Willis posted his third sack of the season for a loss of 10 yards and notched a QB hurry ... The All-American finished the year with 137 total tackles, the most by a Rebel since Abdul Jackson registered 139 in 1994.
Junior LB Rory Johnson added 11 tackles (five solo) has now recorded 10 or more tackles in six of the last seven games and has a total of 87 tackles combined in those last seven outings.
Sophomore DB Dustin Mouzon made the first interception of his career in the fourth quarter ... He also established new career bests for total tackles (6) and solo stops (5).
Sophomore Jamarca Sanford equaled his career high for total tackles with 10.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
With his 22-yarder in the second quarter and 20-yarder in the third, freshman K Joshua Shene has made 11 consecutive field goals from inside 40 yards, dating back to the Wake Forest game.
Marshay Green’s 47-yard punt return for a TD in the fourth quarter is his longest punt return of the season and his first for a TD ... It also marks the first punt return for a TD since Mike Espy’s 51-yard TD punt return against Vanderbilt in 2005.