OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Ulysses Bentley rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown and No. 15 Mississippi defeated in-state rival Mississippi State 26-14 FRiday in the Egg Bowl, keeping its slim College Football Playoff hope alive.
Jaxson Dart completed 14 of 24 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown for the Rebels (9-3, 5-3 Southeastern Conference).
Dart became the Ole Miss career passing yardage leader with a 17-yard strike to Jordan Watkins in the second quarter. He entered the game 49 yards behind Eli Manning and finished the day with 10,213 career yards. Dart, who played at Southern Cal as a freshman, entered the game leading the FBS in total offense and passing efficiency.
The Rebels, who lost to Florida last week, will need some help in other weekend games in their bid to make the CFP. They struggled against the SEC’s worst defense, trailing twice in the first half before Bentley broke loose for an 89-yard TD run that gave Ole Miss a 17-14 lead with less than nine minutes before halftime.
Mississippi didn’t manage to get a two-score lead against the Bulldogs (2-10, 0-8) until Dart passed 19 yards to tight end Caden Prieskorn with 9:56 to play.
“This is a huge game in his state, and I think we felt that early, even though we told them records don’t matter. Weird things happen in these Egg Bowls,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said.
Kiffin said he wouldn’t “politic” for a playoff spot, but continued to spotlight the SEC.
’The SEC’s different. It’s different when you go on the road and play at these places,” Kiffin said. (Some teams in other conferences go) “the whole year without playing in places like that.”
Mississippi State, which entered the game as the SEC’s worst defense (461.8 yards per game), closed out its first winless SEC campaign since 2002. The Bulldogs have dropped 12 consecutive conference games since last October. Michael Van Buren completed 17 of 32 passes for 280 yards and a touchdown and two interceptions.
Ole Miss failed to reach 400 yards for just the fourth time, due in large part to State’s defensive scheme that often used three safeties, Kiffin said. The Rebels rushed for 254 yards.
MSU coach Jeff Lebby, Kiffin’s former Ole Miss offensive coordinator, said his team didn’t take advantage of opportunities.
“We’ve got to make the layup,” Lebby said. “That’s something that’s critical. The turnovers were something that didn’t need to happen at all. You go on the road and play a rivalry game against a top-15 opponent, these things can’t happen.”
The Bulldogs had three turnovers —- two interceptions by Van Buren and a muffed punt — but its defense limited Ole Miss to three points in the quick-turn situations.
The Rebels stopped State on four plays inside the 5 yard line late in the game to spoil Bulldogs’ comeback bid.
The Rebels could climb closer to the top 10 depending on the outcome of other rivalry games this weekend.
Mississippi State: The season is over.
Ole Miss: The Rebels are most likely headed to a bowl game — with a remote chance at a CFP bid.
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