OXFORD, Miss. -- No. 4 no more.
Mississippi State lost it's national championship hopes, its top five ranking and the Golden Egg -- in just 60 minutes.
Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, No. 19 Ole Miss played a spoiler role to perfection with a 31-17 win against the archrival Bulldogs in the 111th Egg Bowl.
"It sucks. I can't sleep for about 365 days til they show up at our place next year," Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said.
The country's argument for the last spot in the playoff rankings lost a variable.
Once No. 1 Mississippi State (10-2) no longer has to worry about "game control" or convincing the playoff committee that it deserves a spot. Ole Miss handled that business. It handed Alabama the SEC West title, the Tide the only other team to beat the Bulldogs. The only team to beat Alabama: Ole Miss in a cruel SEC West.
And maybe, just maybe worst of all, the Bulldogs had their feelings hurt by the enemy. Ole Miss sophomore tight end Evan Engram was asked if knocking Mississippi State out of the playoffs was a motivation.
"Um, we, yeah," Engram said, then smiled. "I'm not even from this state, but it's the biggest rivalry in the country, no doubt, just all the hate and all the smack talk and all the nonsense. But it was definitely in the back of our minds to be the spoiler on their big season. It feels good."
Engram ended that remark with a grin, nearly a wink.
It's a tough argument for which is worse: State losing a shot at a national championship at a program with a rare shot at one, or losing to the team its coach describes as 'hated.'
The tires were still falling off after the game. Mullen called the defensive effort "unacceptable."
"I think we gave up over 20 yards per play. That is pathetic," he said. "That is just an awful job by our defense."
The Bulldogs led for all of 89 seconds after once-Heisman candidate Dak Prescott scored from a yard out. The quarterback gave them a 10-7 third-quarter lead, but one which evaporated into the unseasonably warm Oxford air when 296-pound tight end Jeremy Liggins -- a former all-state quarterback down the road at Lafayette High School -- launched himself into the end zone after Engram's 83-yard catch to the goal line.
Mississippi State defensive end Kaleb Eulls couldn't explain it, giving this response on back-to-back questions about the big plays and second-half defense.
"Um, (inaudible), next question," Eulls said.
The maroon half of Mississippi was speechless, too. Hope lost.
The Rebels added insult to injury by winning with a banged up squad. Defensive end C.J. Johnson called quarterback Bo Wallace's ankle, "60 percent." Wallace threw for 296 yards. Projected NFL first-round tackle, sophomore Laremy Tunsil was in and out and top receiver Laquon Treadwell is done for the season. Ole Miss then lost second-leading receiver Vince Sanders to a torn ACL in the first half, yet somehow managed 532 yards of offense, 131 more than State usually allows.
Engram got five catches and 176 yards and Ole Miss held Prescott (48 yards on 24 carries) and Josh Robinson (44 yards on 12 carries) to half their per-game totals. Ole Miss (9-3), the nation's top scoring defense (13.5 ppg) and 2.5-point home underdog, held the Bulldogs 84 yards under their season rushing average and to only 3.5 yards per rush.
The Rebels scored two touchdowns after Engram made catches of 46 and 83 yards and got a 91-yard touchdown run from Jaylen Walton plus a dagger in the fourth quarter when Jordan Wilkins threw a 31 yard halfback pass to Cody Core.
An almost defiant Mullen vowed to return to national prominence.
"I do not plan on this being a one-hit wonder," he said.
The tough part of that lies in the similar results. It's Alabama. Again. Even though Ole Miss beat the Tide, last week's egg at Arkansas did the Rebels' West hopes in. Then, Ole Miss refused to cooperate in helping someone besides Alabama reach Atlanta.
Mississippi State and Ole Miss will get big bowl invites. But Mississippi State's goals when its players and coaches wake up on Sunday are a world away from what they were only hours before. And it may not even matter what hurts worse, being slammed out of the national title picture by its rival or losing the most important game on the schedule in front of the state's top recruits.
It hurt so bad that Ole Miss media personnel were saying Mississippi State players were refusing to come to the interview room to talk with media. It wasn't out of disrespect, but out of hurt.
"Nobody wants to talk after that," Prescott said. "It's heartbreaking."
That's what the Egg Bowl means, with or without a national title implication.
At the end of the day, a college football season once titled "Mississippi Mayhem" and had the country buzzing about the Magnolia State was destroyed by it's own rivalry in a league that destroys its own destiny.
And some of the players on each team, whether they admit it or not, would trade every win for Saturday's.
For 365 days, Mullen is going to have heavy bags under his once title-wide eyes.
