STARKVILLE — To Mississippi State coach Joe Moorhead a win in the Egg Bowl means one thing — an extended season.
Speaking with the media during his weekly press conference Monday, Moorhead was asked whether he has had any conversations with administrators as to whether the result of Thursday’s contest had any further bearing on his future at MSU to which he responded in the negative.
“No.” he said.
“I think the outcome of this game means that we win the Egg Bowl and we go into the postseason,” Moorhead continued.
While his future at MSU remains murky should the Bulldogs fall to Ole Miss, this year’s Egg Bowl should boast plenty of off-the field intrigue — starting with Rebels coach Matt Luke.
Luke — who’s been decidedly on the hot seat this season having lost six of his last eight games — received a vote of confidence from new Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter despite a middling 4-7 season thus far.
“I think our football program is headed in a great direction,” Carter said last week. “I’m so excited about coach Luke. He’s our coach, and we couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity we have next week in Starkville. We’re excited about where recruiting is and excited about where the future is headed. We’re going to get behind coach Luke, and we’re going to try to get after the Bulldogs next week and get to that fifth win.”
Beyond the coaching carousels that are seemingly spinning in Starkville and Oxford, the ramifications of last season’s benches clearing brawl should put Thursday’s game under the microscope at the SEC offices in Birmingham.
“It remains disappointing to have seen the unnecessary actions during and after the Mississippi State at Ole Miss game on Thursday night,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a news release on Nov. 26, 2018. “These actions are unacceptable and my concern relates to the bigger issue of the repeated incidents before, during and after games between these football programs.”
Following last season’s skirmish between the Rebels and Bulldogs, MSU athletic director John Cohen, then-Ole Miss athletic director Ross Bjork — now at Texas A&M — and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey discussed the incident at a meeting in May.
Re-addressing the issue during SEC Media Days in Hoover, Alabama in July, Sankey said he had “healthy conversations” with Cohen and Bjork on the matter.
As for the present, Moorhead was asked about last season’s antics and how his team can let cooler heads prevail in the 2019 edition of the meeting between the Magnolia State’s flagship institutions.
“I think that you need to play this game with controlled passion and control aggression,” he said last week. “We need to let our play speak for us between the whistles, not for the game, not after game. You know, just making sure that it can’t let the excitement in the rivalry and kind of all those things that go into it. Take away from your preparation and your execution so you really can’t get caught up and emotion of the game.”
Past transgressions and rumors aside, Moorhead need not be reminded of the ramifications of Thursday’s contest.
“It would mean everything to me and I think it would mean everything to these kids and our fans and this university and the great state of Mississippi,” he said. “Because this is the game — I understand the magnitude of it.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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