By Staff
GLORY n Mississippi State tailback Dicenzo Miller celebrates while holding up the Golden Egg trophy Thursday night after Mississippi State defeated Ole Miss 36-28. AP photo
By Rocky Higginbotham/Special to The Star
Nov. 23, 2001
STARKVILLE One team came into the game still clinging to hopes of a New Year's Day bowl game, while the other was reeling from a season gone bad.
It was hard to tell, however, which team was which at the 98th meeting of arch-rivals Mississippi State University and Ole Miss.
Homestanding MSU, in front of a record crowd of 51,112 and a national television audience on ESPN, scored 24 unanswered points in the second half and upset the Rebels 36-28 in the Thursday night game.
It was just the third win for the Bulldogs this year, who are now 3-7 overall and 2-6 in the Southeastern Conference. It was the third straight loss for Ole Miss, which fell to 6-4 and 3-4.
Cutcliffe's Rebels, behind heralded sophomore quarterback Eli Manning, led 21-12 at halftime. But Manning threw three second-half interceptions and Ole Miss couldn't slow MSU which had 462 yards of total offense.
MSU senior Dicenzo Miller ran for 121 yards and backfield mate Dontae Walker scored three touchdowns. Sophomore quarterback Kevin Fant connected on 14-of-21 passes for 263 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions in his second collegiate start.