Behind Enemy Lines: 5 questions for Ole Miss beat writer

Mississippi State closes out the regular season Thursday night with the annual rivalry meeting with Ole Miss. In advance of that Thanksgiving Egg Bowl matchup, we sent questions to Ole Miss beat writer Jake Thompson of the OMSpirit on the On3 network and here are his responses:

Q: After last year’s struggles down the stretch, Ole Miss has obviously been more consistent this season. What factors have attributed to that success?
Thompson: All summer and through fall camp and this season Lane Kiffin and players have talked about how there is more maturity in the locker room and that this Ole Miss team is more cohesive than the 2022 team where there were good individual players but lacked that true team bond. They were more prepared to handle adversity it seems with an example being down at Tulane late and managing to win a game that last year’s team might not have.

That and the schedule being much more favorable with Alabama back in its usual September slot and winnable games sprinkled throughout the season instead all before mid-October has allowed confidence to stay for the entire 12-games and grow.

Q: With new defensive coordinator Pete Golding, Ole Miss’ defense has taken some steps forward this year. What have been the strengths and weaknesses of the defense this season?
Thompson: The strength, in my opinion, has been the defensive line and the ability to stay fresh all season with a substitution strategy that resembles a line change in a hockey game. While against Georgia and ULM it did not look like it, Ole Miss has one of the better sack defenses in the SEC this season.

A weakness would have to be the linebackers. Kiffin and Golding worked to get help out of the transfer portal but Monty Montgomery would have to be one that is considered a disappointment and his lessened snap counts each week backs it up. The linebacker room has been an area Kiffin has wanted to improve the past two years with no improvement yet.

Q: On both sides of the ball, what matchups will you be watching closely on Thursday?
Thompson: The key matchup for me is the Ole Miss defensive line and Will Rogers. The Bulldogs quarterback returned from injury but he is banged up and that should be the target for the Rebels defensive front.

I am also looking forward to see how Quinshon Judkins does against the Bulldogs defense. Ole Miss is averaging just shy of 176 rushing yards a game and Mississippi State’s rush defense is holding opposing offenses to 140 rushing yards a game. That could be the second key to the game as the Bulldogs pass defense could neutralize Jaxson Dart and the air attack.

Q: Heading into the Thanksgiving battle, what does the Ole Miss injury report look like?
Thompson: Only two notable injuries heading into Thursday and that would be the loss of Micah Pettus, who has been out since before the Georgia game due to a foot injury and then Jayden Williams who got hurt in the Georgia game as Pettus’ replacement and did not play against ULM.

The injuries on the offensive line causing a musical chairs situation showed the weakness that group has with depth as ULM’s defense had much more success than it should have to be quite honest.

Q: If you care to give a score prediction, that works fine. But either way, how do you see this year’s Egg Bowl playing out?
Thompson: This has not been Mississippi State’s season as most in Starkville are very aware of. An in-season coach firing and poor results on the field has Ole Miss a near two-touchdown favorite and on paper that makes sense.

But this is the Egg Bowl and all of us who have covered it for any amount of time are smart enough to know records and how the 11 games previously went mean nothing come Thanksgiving night. I think the Rebels pull it out but it would not surprise me if it is close heading to the fourth quarter.