Thursday, November 23
Starkville
6:30 PM
Mississippi State
8-4 , 4-4
28
vs
31
Ole Miss
6-6 , 3-5
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Ole Miss
7
3
14
7
31
Mississippi State
0
6
0
22
28
No. 14 Bulldogs Fall In Egg Bowl, 31-28
November 23, 2017 | Football
STARKVILLE, Miss. - On a cold night, Mississippi State's regular season closed out with a tight loss in the Egg Bowl, falling to Ole Miss (6-6, 3-5 SEC) 31-28 on Thanksgiving night. A late MSU comeback attempt fell just short as the Bulldogs (8-4, 4-4 SEC) were unable to convert an onside kick attempt after scoring a pair of touchdowns in the final five minutes of the game.
The Bulldogs were dealt a harsh blow early in the contest when star quarterback Nick Fitzgerald suffered a dislocated ankle in the first quarter and was forced to miss the remainder of the game. Already trailing when Fitzgerald exited, MSU continued to struggle with ball control, totaling five turnovers on the night, two of which the Rebels turned into points.
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MSU true freshman Keytaon Thompson played in place of the injured Fitzgerald and finished the game 13-of-27 passing for 195 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Thompson also led the team in rushing with 121 yards and one touchdown on 26 carries. Rookie Kylin Hill and junior Aeris Williams added 82 and 75 yards rushing, respectively, Hill scoring on a 30-yard fourth quarter jaunt. Senior tight end Jordan Thomas was State's leading receiver with four catches and 65 yards.
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Defensively, freshman linebacker Errol Thompson starred, totaling five tackles, 1.5 sacks and one forced fumble. Johnathan Abram led State with eight total tackles.
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State, bowl eligible for a school-record eighth consecutive season under head coach Dan Mullen, now awaits its postseason destination. The Bulldogs will learn their 2017-18 bowl game location and opponent on Sunday, Dec. 3.
HEAD COACH DAN MULLEN QUOTES
Opening statement…
"Obviously frustrating. It was a big game, and you always want to go find a way to win that game. Our guys battled; they continued to battle for four quarters. Things didn't go our way through much of the game, but we continued to battle, continued to fight, continued to compete for four quarters and try to make plays for four quarters. Unfortunately, I think in the end we just ran out of time. That's frustrating, but I'm always proud of our guys. If you watch us play, we always play with relentless effort. I thought our guys gave great effort for the entire 60 minutes. We just wish we had 61 or 62 tonight."
On quarterback Nick Fitzgerald's injury…
"He had a dislocated ankle. I haven't gotten anything besides that."
On freshman quarterback Keytaon Thompson…
"I thought as the game went on, he continued to play better, continued to relax. He turned the ball over too much tonight. I think that's a huge thing. We turned it over five times. You're not going to win many games when you turn the ball over five times as a team. That's not him. That's just as a team, we turned it over five times. I thought as a young guy coming in, he continued to get more and more comfortable as the game went on in making reads and making plays. I think as everybody sees, he has a really bright future for us."
On Thompson playing in the bowl game in the event Fitzgerald cannot…
"It'd be an opportunity to get a start and get a game, because if you look at him as a young guy, he was going to get a lot of reps anyway in bowl prep. Again, I don't know the extent, but I would imagine that he's going to be the guy. I've got to find out the extent of everything with Nick and when we play, but he'll have the opportunity to get a start and see what he can do."
On momentum swings during the game…
"I think our guys did pretty well. They continued to go out there and continued to play. You look at the explosive plays we gave up and the turnovers. If you look at the stat line, you'd be hardpressed to think we didn't win the game unless you look at the turnovers and the explosive plays. That was the difference. But I think with our guys, there was never frustration, there was never anything – just like last week. Things don't always go your way. Just work harder. That's the philosophy of everybody in the program, and that's the philosophy of our guys playing tonight."
On how well the team handled the emotions of this game…
"It's always an emotional game. Rivalry games are that way. I thought we did. The way I judge it is, are we focused on executing and playing football? At rivalry games, you're always going to see a little of that – the extra chippiness. There was certainly some of that out there today. But if you look for four quarters, our guys continued to play hard and execute. That, to me, is where the focus is, where you're going out there and playing football and doing your job between the whistling. They did that all night."
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The Bulldogs were dealt a harsh blow early in the contest when star quarterback Nick Fitzgerald suffered a dislocated ankle in the first quarter and was forced to miss the remainder of the game. Already trailing when Fitzgerald exited, MSU continued to struggle with ball control, totaling five turnovers on the night, two of which the Rebels turned into points.
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MSU true freshman Keytaon Thompson played in place of the injured Fitzgerald and finished the game 13-of-27 passing for 195 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Thompson also led the team in rushing with 121 yards and one touchdown on 26 carries. Rookie Kylin Hill and junior Aeris Williams added 82 and 75 yards rushing, respectively, Hill scoring on a 30-yard fourth quarter jaunt. Senior tight end Jordan Thomas was State's leading receiver with four catches and 65 yards.
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Defensively, freshman linebacker Errol Thompson starred, totaling five tackles, 1.5 sacks and one forced fumble. Johnathan Abram led State with eight total tackles.
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State, bowl eligible for a school-record eighth consecutive season under head coach Dan Mullen, now awaits its postseason destination. The Bulldogs will learn their 2017-18 bowl game location and opponent on Sunday, Dec. 3.
HEAD COACH DAN MULLEN QUOTES
Opening statement…
"Obviously frustrating. It was a big game, and you always want to go find a way to win that game. Our guys battled; they continued to battle for four quarters. Things didn't go our way through much of the game, but we continued to battle, continued to fight, continued to compete for four quarters and try to make plays for four quarters. Unfortunately, I think in the end we just ran out of time. That's frustrating, but I'm always proud of our guys. If you watch us play, we always play with relentless effort. I thought our guys gave great effort for the entire 60 minutes. We just wish we had 61 or 62 tonight."
On quarterback Nick Fitzgerald's injury…
"He had a dislocated ankle. I haven't gotten anything besides that."
On freshman quarterback Keytaon Thompson…
"I thought as the game went on, he continued to play better, continued to relax. He turned the ball over too much tonight. I think that's a huge thing. We turned it over five times. You're not going to win many games when you turn the ball over five times as a team. That's not him. That's just as a team, we turned it over five times. I thought as a young guy coming in, he continued to get more and more comfortable as the game went on in making reads and making plays. I think as everybody sees, he has a really bright future for us."
On Thompson playing in the bowl game in the event Fitzgerald cannot…
"It'd be an opportunity to get a start and get a game, because if you look at him as a young guy, he was going to get a lot of reps anyway in bowl prep. Again, I don't know the extent, but I would imagine that he's going to be the guy. I've got to find out the extent of everything with Nick and when we play, but he'll have the opportunity to get a start and see what he can do."
On momentum swings during the game…
"I think our guys did pretty well. They continued to go out there and continued to play. You look at the explosive plays we gave up and the turnovers. If you look at the stat line, you'd be hardpressed to think we didn't win the game unless you look at the turnovers and the explosive plays. That was the difference. But I think with our guys, there was never frustration, there was never anything – just like last week. Things don't always go your way. Just work harder. That's the philosophy of everybody in the program, and that's the philosophy of our guys playing tonight."
On how well the team handled the emotions of this game…
"It's always an emotional game. Rivalry games are that way. I thought we did. The way I judge it is, are we focused on executing and playing football? At rivalry games, you're always going to see a little of that – the extra chippiness. There was certainly some of that out there today. But if you look for four quarters, our guys continued to play hard and execute. That, to me, is where the focus is, where you're going out there and playing football and doing your job between the whistling. They did that all night."
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Team Stats
OM
MS
Total Yards
355
501
Pass Yards
247
207
Rushing Yards
108
294
Penalty Yards
121
88
1st Downs
11
27
3rd Downs
2
7
4th Downs
0
2
TOP
22:30
37:30
1st Quarter
OM 7, MS 0
OM - Jordan Wilkins 22 yd run (Gary Wunderlich kick), 3 plays, 75 yards, TOP 0:39
2nd Quarter
OM 10, MS 0
OM - Gary Wunderlich 33 yd field goal 6 plays, 12 yards, TOP 2:33
OM 10, MS 3
MS - Christmann,Jace 44 yd field goal 9 plays, 39 yards, TOP 4:09
OM 10, MS 6
MS - Christmann,Jace 37 yd field goal 5 plays, 25 yards, TOP 1:02
3rd Quarter
OM 17, MS 6
OM - A.J. Brown 77 yd pass from Jordan Ta'amu (Gary Wunderlich kick) 2 plays, 80 yards, TOP 0:40
OM 24, MS 6
OM - D.K. Metcalf 63 yd pass from Jordan Ta'amu (Gary Wunderlich kick) 1 plays, 63 yards, TOP 0:12
4th Quarter
OM 24, MS 13
MS - Thomas,Deddrick 15 yd pass from Thompson,K. (Christmann,Jace kick) 8 plays, 44 yards, TOP 2:42
OM 31, MS 13
OM - Jordan Wilkins 46 yd run (Gary Wunderlich kick), 2 plays, 44 yards, TOP 0:46
OM 31, MS 21
MS - Hill,Kylin 30 yd run (Thompson,K. rush), 11 plays, 69 yards, TOP 3:19
OM 31, MS 28
MS - Thompson,K. 1 yd run (Christmann,Jace kick), 8 plays, 62 yards, TOP 1:53
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
13
TD
1
YDS
195
INT
1
CMP
1
TD
0
YDS
12
INT
1
Players Mentioned
DB
/ FootballQB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
TE
/ FootballQB
/ Football
RB
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