Ole Miss' season ends with 55-20 Egg Bowl loss
OXFORD - All Ole Miss' players could do was watch as Mississippi State players celebrated with the Golden Egg right in front of them as they walked off the field.
The Rebels' season from hell hit rock bottom and that was a fitting exclamation point.
The Bulldogs put an end to Ole Miss' season, which turned dire weeks ago, with a 55-20 victory in the Egg Bowl at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday.
The loss keeps the Rebels (5-7, 2-6 SEC) out of a bowl game and gave Hugh Freeze his first losing season as the program's coach. The defeat also sealed Ole Miss' last-place finish in the SEC West, which is a far cry from its top-15 preseason ranking.
"It's disappointing," Freeze said. "I hate it for our fans. I hate it for our university. I hate it for our seniors. I hate it for everybody involved in our program, our supporters. It's not the way you want to end the season ... we've got a lot of work to do to be back to where we want to be."
Everything that plagued the Rebels this season was on display Saturday. Second-half offensive struggles? They didn't score in the second half, which allowed the Bulldogs (5-7, 3-5) to turn seven-point halftime lead into a 35-point win.
A porous run defense? That was evident with the 457 yards allowed to Mississippi State, which received a school-record 258 rushing yards and three touchdowns from quarterback Nick Fitzgerald and 191 yards and two touchdowns from running back Aeris Williams.
Fitzgerald completed just eight passes, but three of those went for touchdowns. One went to a wide-open Malik Dear for a 24-yard touchdown, which gave the Bulldogs a 27-10 lead with 9:13 left in the first half.
"We didn't stop the run and I really thought we'd do well against it," defensive coordinator Dave Wommack said. "They did a great job of adjusting to the different looks we gave them."
Ole Miss announced Wommack's retirement a little less than an hour before kickoff on Saturday. The Rebels surrendered 566 total yards in his final game.
Earlier in the week, Freeze stressed the importance of finishing drives with touchdowns because he knew both teams would likely have trouble stopping each other.
Ole Miss piled up 528 yards of offense, but only reached the end zone twice. It looked like it was in prime position to tie the game when it reached the Bulldogs' red zone early in the third quarter.
But Akeem Judd, who rushed for 107 yards, was stuffed on a fourth-and-1 carry by Mississippi State linebacker Leo Lewis.
Mississippi State took possession at the 18 and put together a 9-play, 82-yard drive, which culminated when Fitzgerald hit Fred Ross on a fourth-and-3 for a 38-yard touchdown pass. It gave the Bulldogs a 34-20 lead and took all the air out of Ole Miss.
That's how the Bulldogs snapped their two-game losing skid to the Rebels and took the Golden Egg back to Starkville.
Now Ole Miss is left to pick up the pieces of a broken season.
"It's been the toughest (season) of my professional career," Freeze said. "Whether it's from the disappointment to the injuries to everything that's going on around our program. It's been a very difficult season. ... It's a battle. It's difficult. It's tough on your families. It's tough on everybody around the building. You find out a lot about who you are and who everyone is that's with you.
"I'm glad the season is over now. It's been difficult and can't wait to hit the road recruiting, get the necessary changes made and get to spring ball."
Contact Antonio Morales at amorales2@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @AntonioCMorales on Twitter.