Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 08:46, 19 November 2008

The Battle of the Golden Egg (nicknamed the Egg Bowl) is an annual college football game between the Mississippi State University (MSU) Bulldogs and the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) Rebels. While the 2 teams have played each other since 1901, with 2003 being the year in which the 2 teams had played each other 100 times and now having played each other a total of 104 times, the first game officially known as the "The Battle of the Golden Egg" was in 1927. While it is called a "Bowl", the game is not a postseason bowl game, but rather a regular season Southeastern Conference (SEC) game for both teams as they are both SEC members in the West Division.

History

Up until 1926, Ole Miss had claimed only five wins in the previous twenty-three meetings of the teams. When Ole Miss beat what was then known as Mississippi A&M College 7 to 6, the Ole Miss fans were celebratory, rushing the field, some trying to tear the goalposts down. A&M fans did not take well to the Ole Miss fans celebrations, and fights broke out all over the field between the schools' fans. Some A&M fans defended the goal posts with wooden chairs, and several injuries were reported. Ole Miss and A&M students vowed then that such an incident should not happen again. The result was the "Golden Egg", a trophy to cool the heat of battle - the trophy, not the goalposts, would be the winners' reward. The name derives from a large trophy which has been awarded to the winning team each year since 1927. The trophy consists of a large football-shaped brass piece mounted to a wooden base and traditionally symbolizes supremacy in college football in the state of Mississippi for the year. The footballs used in American football in the 1920s were considerably more ovoid and blunter than those in use today and similar to the balls still used in rugby; the shape of the football on the trophy naturally depicts a football from the era when the trophy was first awarded. The trophy thus, to modern eyes, more resembles an egg than a football. The awarding of the "Golden Egg" was instituted in 1927 by joint agreement between the two schools student bodies.

The game is a typical example of the intrastate rivalries between several public universities in the U.S. These games are usually between one bearing the state's name alone, and the land-grant university, often styled as "State University". Like most such rivalries, it is contested at the end of the regular season, in this case on Thanksgiving weekend, sometimes on Thanksgiving Day (or, in recent years, Thanksgiving Night) itself. At one point the level of rivalry was such that a victory by one of the schools in this game could salvage what had otherwise been a poor season. This was however proven not to always be the case when in 2004 Ole Miss won the game but fired its coach, David Cutcliffe, the next week, following a disappointing season.

For many years this game was played at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson, which seats approximately 62,000 spectators. There were several reasons behind this. Besides being centrally located in the state, at the time it was the only venue in the state capable of seating the anticipated crowd; for many years Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford seated only about 32,000 and Scott Field in Starkville seated only about 31,000. Both have been considerably expanded and are now capable of accommodating the crowds which can realistically be expected, and both on-campus venues have been continually upgraded to the point where they are actually superior in amenities to Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, so the decision was made to move the game into a home-and-home series in the 1990s. It was decided that the on-campus atmosphere is generally better; the game is now more useful for both schools as a recruiting tool, and this has the additional advantage of only requiring the bulk of one team's core fan base to make a road trip rather than both of them as was previously the case.

Notable games

• 1941: Mississippi State won its very first Southeastern Conference title behind quarterback Jennings Moates after winning this Egg Bowl, 6-0.

• 1976 and 1977: Mississippi State won the Egg Bowl these 2 years but had to forfeit the wins due to NCAA violations in 1975. The Bulldogs were slapped with a two-year probation in September 1975 when Larry Gillard was charged with a loss of eligibility after the NCAA Committee on Infractions found he had been "provided clothing at a discount not available to members of the university's student body in general." MSU accepted the committee's finding but joined Gillard in successfully filing litigation against the NCAA to restore his eligibility in a Mississippi chancery court. Gillard was allowed to participate by virtue of a restraining order granted by the chancery court and had his best season in 1976, when he made 10 sacks for the 9-2 Bulldogs. The NCAA then appealed the chancery court's decision, and the Mississippi Supreme Court upheld the NCAA action late in the 1977 season. In June 1978, the NCAA made the Bulldogs forfeit 19 games (18 wins and a tie) in which Gillard played from 1975 through 1977. That turned 6-4-1, 9-2 and 5-6 records into 2-9, 0-11 and 0-11 seasons.

• 1983: In what has become known to Ole Miss and MSU fans as "The Immaculate Deflection", the 1983 Egg Bowl played in Jackson is notable because the wind helped preserve Ole Miss' 24-23 victory. Down by a point with 24 seconds left in the game, MSU proceeded to kick what would have been a 27-yard game winning field goal. MSU freshman kicker Artie Cosby kicked it straight and long and what appeared to be over the crossbar, but as the ball reached the goal posts, a 40 mph gusting wind suspended the ball inches from the uprights, after which it fell short of the goal post, securing the victory for the University of Mississippi.

• 1997: A melee broke out between the 2 teams before the game. The game was won 15-14 by the Ole Miss Rebels on a game-winning 4th quarter drive. Tommy Tuberville, in his third season as the Rebels' head coach, opted to attempt a two-point conversion in order to avoid overtime. The conversion was successful as Stewart Patridge connected with Corey Peterson for the score. This victory gave Ole Miss its first bowl berth in several years.

• 1998: Mississippi State clinched their first SEC West division title after winning this Egg Bowl, 28-6, sending them to the SEC Championship game where they were defeated 24-14 by eventual national champion Tennessee.

• 1999: Known as "The Pick and the Kick", this game is best known for its dramatic ending. Down 20-13, MSU rallied late in the 4th quarter to tie the game. With 20 seconds left, instead of kneeling the ball to go to overtime, Mississippi decided to run a play, deep in their own territory. Rebel quarterback, Romero Miller, dropped back and lobbed a deep pass which was deflected off the hands and then the foot of MSU cornerback Robert Bean before being intercepted by MSU's Eugene Clinton and returned into Rebel Territory. On the next play, with 8 seconds left, Bulldog kicker Scott Westerfield kicked a 44 yard field goal to win the game.

• 2003: Ole Miss clinched a share of their first SEC West division title (along with eventual SEC and National Champion, LSU) after winning this Egg Bowl, 31-0, with current New York Giants quarterback and Super Bowl XLII MVP Eli Manning leading the team.

• 2007: Mississippi State, after trailing 14-0 late in the fourth quarter, reeled off seventeen points in the game's final 7:51 to win the game and leave Ole Miss winless in the SEC for the first time in 25 years.

Game results

Mississippi victories are shaded ██ blue. Mississippi State victories shaded in ██ red. Ties shaded white. Forfeits shaded ██ gray.

*In 1976 and 1977, Mississippi State won the Egg Bowl on the field but had to forfeit the wins due to NCAA violations in 1975.'"

External links

• 2003 The ClarionLedger Egg Bowl Series

References

1. Ole Miss football 2007 Media guide
2. Ole Miss football 2007 Media guide
3. Google cache of Chattanooga Times Free Press: SEC Storylines; The Times Free Press is counting down the top 75 events in the 75 years of SEC football.
4. The ClarionLedger: Cosby tried, God blew, and 2 teams celebrated
5. YouTube: Video of the 1997 Egg Bowl melee

v t e The University of Mississippi
Located in: Oxford, Mississippi
Academics	People Glenn Boyce (chancellor) University of Mississippi Academics Divisions Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College University of Mississippi School of Law University of Mississippi School of Engineering University of Mississippi School of Business Administration Croft Institute for International Studies National Center for Remote Sensing, Air and Space Law Center for the Study of Southern Culture
Athletics	Teams Ole Miss Rebels Football Basketball Men Women Baseball Softball Tennis The Pride of the South (marching band) Football rivalries Egg Bowl (Mississippi State) Magnolia Bowl (LSU) Arkansas Vanderbilt Alabama Facilities Vaught–Hemingway Stadium The Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss Tad Smith Coliseum Swayze Field Ole Miss Soccer Stadium Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center William F. Galtney Indoor Tennis Center Ole Miss Track & Field Complex Ole Miss Softball Complex Gillom Athletics Performance Center University Golf Course
Campus	Main University, Mississippi Barnard Observatory Confederate Monument The Grove Kennon Observatory Lyceum–The Circle Historic District Museum Rowan Oak Statue of James Meredith Other University of Mississippi Field Station University of Mississippi Medical Center University of Mississippi School of Medicine
Student life	The Daily Mississippian WUMS Radio Alumni
History	History 1962 race riot 2008 Presidential debate
Traditions	Forward Rebels Hotty Toddy! From Dixie with Love
Outreach	Mississippi Teacher Corps

• College football rivalries
• College football rivalry trophies
• Ole Miss Rebels football
• Mississippi State Bulldogs football