The battle of Mississippi is renewed
Saturday 27 November will be the 104th meeting between Mississippi Rebels (Ole Miss) and Mississippi State Bulldogs, with Ole Miss having the upper hand in the rivalry with 58 victories. However, the no. 25 Bulldogs will be looking to finish
their season and head into the bowl season with a victory, while the Rebels will be trying to finish off a dismal season with any positives they can heading into their off-season.
Ole Miss’ season so far
The Rebels' season did not start well as they suffered a disappointing 49-48 loss to Jacksonville State, but rebounded against Tulane in week two for a win, 27-13.
Ole Miss was defeated in week three by Vanderbilt, but responded with a two-game winning streak over Fresno State and Kentucky.
The party did not last long in Oxford as the Rebels fell into a three-game losing skid against Southeastern Conference (SEC) opponents. Formerly ranked number eight Alabama, former no. 23 Arkansas and former number one Auburn all beat up on the Rebels over
the three weeks.
A win against Louisiana-Lafayette on 6 November got Ole Miss back into the win column, but their last two games have been losses to Tennessee and former number five LSU.
The Ole Miss Rebels currently sit at 4-7 overall and 1-6 in the SEC and have no opportunity to make the bowl season in December.
Mississippi State’s season to date
The Bulldogs season began with an impressive victory over Memphis, 49-7. Their next two games came against ranked SEC opponents in Auburn and LSU, and Mississippi State succumbed to both teams, bringing their record to 1-2 heading into week four.
Since the loss to LSU, the Bulldogs went on a five-game winning streak with victories over opponents Georgia, Alcorn State, Houston, Florida and Kentucky.
The Bulldogs have faltered over the last two weeks with defeats against Alabama and a double overtime loss last weekend against Arkansas, 38-31.
After the loss to the Razorbacks, Bulldogs defensive coordinator Manny Diaz had this to say about the game, comparing it to a student taking a test.
"We got the answers wrong before the play even began," Diaz said according to espn.go.com. "Once the play started, we had already lost. You have to give yourself a chance. They can ask you 61 questions and you can get 59 right, but even if you just miss
two it makes it really difficult to win."
The rivalry
Last season featured an upset victory between these two teams. Ole Miss was headed to the Cotton Bowl while Mississippi State was not going to a bowl game at all, but in this game last season, the Bulldogs won 41-27 which started their program in
the right direction as we see this year. However, the rivalry goes much deeper than that.
"All summer long all I heard was people talking about the Mississippi State game, nothing else," Rebels coach Houston Nutt said to espn.go.com. "It was about this game and when your state is divided, you really and truly understand what the word rival means.
It's big."
Even the Bulldogs head coach, Dan Mullen, has embraced this rivalry since he first arrived at Starkville, Mississippi, regarding Ole Miss as “The School Up North.”
"... No matter what, we have to get up for this game. This is what we do -- this is what our season's for. We put this game at the top of our list. Sure, we want to win an SEC championship and want a chance to win the national championship, but our season isn't
completed until we beat The School Up North." Said Bulldogs centre J.C. Brignone.
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