No. 6 Ole Miss beats Mississippi State 38-19 in the Battle for the Golden Egg

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Trinidad Chambliss threw for 359 yards and four touchdowns, and No. 6 Mississippi rolled through Mississippi State 38-19 Saturday in the Battle for the Golden Egg.

Chambliss led a Rebel charge that racked up 546 yards of offense. The senior transfer from Division II Ferris State was 23 of 34 for 359 yards and four touchdowns. De’Zhaun Stribling had two of those touchdowns and had four catches for 66 yards. Deuce Alexander had two catches for 94 yards, including an 88-yard score in the fourth quarter that would put the game away for good.

The Rebels (11-1, 7-1 Southeastern Conference, No. 7 CFP) also had a big day on the ground as the unit rushed for 187 yards on 39 carries with Kewan Lacy putting in 143 of those yards on 27 carries.

The Bulldogs had more than 400 yards of offense themselves. Jeff Lebby made the surprise change at quarterback and played talented freshman Kamario Taylor all game. The Macon native finished his first start 15 of 31 for 178 yards and had 20 carries for 173 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

Mississippi State (5-7, 1-7 SEC) finished with 440 total yards on 74 plays with 262 of those on the ground. Fluff Bothwell rushed 17 times for 80 yards and Brenen Thompson had six catches for 80 yards.

The Bulldogs defense was the real culprit in the game as Coleman Hutzler’s unit gave up more than 500 yards for the sixth time in two seasons. Takeaway

Ole Miss: The Rebels had a lot of distractions coming into the week with the status of coach Lane Kiffin being up in the air. Despite the coach being rumored to be the next head man at either Florida or LSU, the Rebels didn’t play like a team distracted and should have sealed up a playoff berth.

Mississippi State: After a 4-0 start this season, the Bulldogs closed the regular season 1-7 and will likely miss out on a bowl for the third straight season. Lebby has started his coaching career 7-17 and is now 1-15 in SEC play with zero home conference wins.

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