Friday afternoon brought the Egg Bowl back to Mississippi as Ole Miss welcomed Mississippi State to Vaught Hemingway for the annual Thanksgiving tradition. Fans from all corners of the state came together for an afternoon of football. This year’s version of the Egg Bowl was different; there was no toxic nature, no fighting after the game, and mutual respect for one another not seen in years in the Egg Bowl game.

Some of it might have come from the predetermined outcome of the game, which was that the more talented Ole Miss team would defeat the Bulldogs for a second straight Egg Bowl victory. However, Mississippi State kept things entertaining. Trailing 17-14 at the break, Mississippi State was right there with Ole Miss until the 4th quarter when the Rebels added nine points to the scoreboard to take home a 26-14 win over the visiting Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Losing to Ole Miss is never fun for Mississippi State, but the Bulldogs learned a lot about the potential the 2025 team has on both sides of the ball, especially on offense with Michael Van Buren at quarterback. Van Buren took over as starting quarterback early in the season when Blake Shapen went down with a season-ending injury. Van Buren continued to grow throughout the season but showed his potential in the Egg Bowl. Despite finishing with two interceptions, Van Buren threw for 280 yards and a touchdown, likely solidifying his role as the starter when spring ball rolls around for Coach Lebby and the Mississippi State Bulldogs. On the defensive side of the ball for Mississippi State, Stone Blaton and Isaac Smith combined for 26 tackles, giving the defensive unit a pair to build off of for the 2025 season.

For Ole Miss, Coach Kiffin and his boys did everything they had to do to keep the Egg Bowl in Oxford but needed more wow factor to make a stronger case for the College Football Playoff committee. Winning the Egg Bowl is always good, but the way Ole Miss won lacked the extra momentum they sought to impress the second-to-last College Football Playoff rankings. Ole Miss has more talent on the roster than Mississippi State; the Rebels leaned into the leadership of Jaxson Dart, Caden Prieskorn, and the Landshark defense to bring home victory on Friday afternoon. Unlike their counterparts in Starkville, Ole Miss has at least another game to play before turning the focus to taking Ole Miss Football to the next level in 2025.

The 2024 Egg Bowl provided a good game, but Ole Miss’s talent was too much to overcome for Mississippi State. In the future, fans from both schools can expect the Egg Bowl to return to being competitive each year, with a return to the toxic nature as both programs return to relevance under the leadership of Coach Kiffin and Coach Lebby at Mississippi State.

Ole Miss will await their bowl destination on Sunday afternoon after the final College Football Playoff poll is released.