Ole Miss Football: 5 Reasons Rebels will win 2018 Egg Bowl vs Mississippi State
5. Anything can happen in a rivalry game
The first thing to do when evaluating a rivalry game is to throw out the records. How each of these teams has faired in games entering their head-to-head battle in Week 13 is valuable information, but the passion and intensity that surround this game make it a different beast entirely.
Mississippi State has been the more successful program in recent history. The Bulldogs have been nationally ranked in four of their last six meetings with the Rebels — they lost all four games, including the 2014 meeting when Mississippi State was ranked No. 4 in the nation.
Fitzgerald’s injury changed the complexion of last year’s game entirely, but even in relatively evenly matched healthy contests throughout the most recent half decade have gone in favor of Ole Miss. That’s because rivalry games depend almost as much on want-to as they do on true talent.
Next. 5 reasons Mississippi St wins Egg Bowl. dark
Mississippi State is a 13.5-point over Ole Miss. That might be a reasonable line on paper, but these games aren’t played on the paper. They’re played on the field between two fanbases and two teams that want a win more this week than any other week of the year. That want-to has worked for Ole Miss when the talent hasn’t, and it can happen again.