How Ole Miss football's win over Mississippi State vindicated Lane Kiffin's Egg Bowl approach

STARKVILLE — Lane Kiffin's Egg Bowl strategy since he arrived to coach Ole Miss football before the 2020 season has been simple: Leave the 4-wheelers and frothy fervor to the other guys.

Mississippi State chose to feed into the emotion this game brings out from every corner of this state. Bulldogs interim coach Greg Knox led his team onto the field riding a 4-wheeler, a motivational prop he's been using since he took over for the fired Zach Arnett last week.

It presented the ultimate juxtaposition to how the Rebels approach this game under Kiffin.

"(The players) were down on me because I didn't ride a 4-wheeler into the game," Kiffin said after the Rebels secured a 17-7 win Thursday. "They were like, 'Coach, what's up?' That's kind of with our theme of, we'll let them have all the energy. We'll let them have all that."

Kiffin expected Mississippi State to make it difficult early, he said. The Bulldogs delivered on those expectations with their efforts on defense.

Six of Ole Miss' eight first-half drives concluded in punts. The Rebels entered Mississippi State territory once in the first 30 minutes, when Caden Costa kicked a chip-shot field goal that Ole Miss rode to a slim 3-0 halftime lead.

"We'll weather that storm early, and then our plan was to out-execute them," Kiffin said. "Not get late penalties. Not get in fights with them. Not play their game. Just out-execute them."

Ole Miss (10-2, 6-2 SEC) hoped to grind the Bulldogs (5-7, 1-7) down with their running game. The Rebels' 211 yards on the ground marked their fourth-best showing of the season. Quinshon Judkins, who finally pounded Ole Miss' way into the end zone for the first time in the third quarter, rushed for 119 hard-earned yards. When it came time for the Rebels to strike their final blow, the entire Mississippi State defense bit on a play-fake before Jaxson Dart threw a pop pass to Caden Prieskorn for a 26-yard touchdown. After three quarters of ground-and-pound, a bit of misdirection buckled every knee in Davis Wade Stadium.

The Mississippi State defense, uber-aggressive in the last two meetings between these teams, instead favored a passive approach that flummoxed the Rebels.

A team overcome by emotion would not have been able to make the required adjustments, Dart said.

"They did a lot of things that we weren't expecting them to do," Dart said. "We had to just make constant adjustments throughout the game, and just stay true and bought in and play for the guy next to you."

In Kiffin's program, buying in means believing in the pragmatic approach he demands. And it's one that has served him well. The Rebels are now 3-1 on Thanksgiving since Kiffin arrived.

It's not about indifference to the moment and the meaning it holds with Ole Miss fans everywhere. Dart said he's been thinking about winning the Golden Egg back since he walked off the field following a 24-22 loss last season. Kiffin said he was constantly reminded by Ole Miss fans during his Rebel Road Trip tour this summer that it was his duty to reclaim the trophy. Former Ole Miss quarterbacks Eli Manning and Tom Luke delivered heartfelt speeches to the team in the buildup, Rebels players said.

But one can understand and value the game's importance without straying from one of the pillars of Kiffin's program. And the Rebels walked that line to perfection.

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"I made it up to myself that I was never going to lose in this game again," Dart said. "I thought we did a great job preparing for it as a team, and when it mattered, we were able to push forward and pull through."

David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.

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This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: How Lane Kiffin's plan was vindicated in Ole Miss football Egg Bowl win