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Trinidad Chambliss of the Mississippi Rebels with the Golden Egg trophy after the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Miss., on Nov. 28, 2025. Justin Ford/Getty Images
One of college football’s most-heated rivalries met one of the game’s biggest dramas this season on Friday in Starkville, Mississippi.
Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin led the No. 6 Rebels (11–1) to a 38–19 victory over the Mississippi State University (MSU) Bulldogs (5–7) in the Egg Bowl rivalry game, and the Rebels won 11 games in a season for the first time ever. Meanwhile, Kiffin’s future remains in doubt, as he has been tied to higher-profile job openings such as Florida—at least before Friday—and Louisiana State University, and his decision on leaving or staying could mean he can’t coach in the College Football Playoff, which Ole Miss is well-poised to make.
“No, I haven’t [made a decision]. I’ve gotta lot of praying to do to figure it out tomorrow,” Kiffin said during an on-field postgame interview with ESPN’s Taylor McGregor. “Right now, I’m going to enjoy these players.”
The only other clarity that came on Friday was Florida bowing out of the running for Kiffin, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Florida’s leadership senses Kiffin has interests elsewhere for his next destination, Thamel reported.
Kiffin and company, meanwhile, just finished the chaos that was the Egg Bowl, and the shenanigans began with Mississippi State fans allegedly stealing Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss’s jersey at 3 a.m. Kiffin addressed that in an interview before the game with ESPN.
“I mean, shoot, at 10 o’clock last night, luckily, our great Ken Crain, our equipment manager put cameras, secret cameras, in the locker room so we could watch Mississippi State [fans] break into our locker room and start stealing things,” Kiffin told ESPN’s Marty Smith. “We reported to Mississippi State, they said, ‘we‘ll put security [outside].’ And how about this, at 3 o’clock in the morning, they break in again and take Trinidad’s jersey. I guess you'd expect nothing less from these [fans].”
Chambliss got his jersey back, and he started off strong as he led scoring drives on the first two possessions. Then, it turned ugly, as Chambliss took a hit that looked like a fumble, too, and the Rebels and Bulldogs got in a scuffle.
The game turned into a defensive battle as neither team scored again until there was 1:22 remaining in the first half, when the Bulldogs closed the gap on a field goal, 14–10. Ole Miss added a touchdown after that, when Chambliss connected with wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling on a 10-yard completion.
The Rebels ultimately dominated and pulled away. Ole Miss piled on 545 yards of total offense, guided by Chambliss, going 23–34 for 359 yards and four touchdown passes.
Chambliss put an exclamation point in the win with an 88-yard strike to wide receiver Deuce Alexander with 9:50 in the fourth quarter, right after a Bulldogs score. Rebels running back Kewan Lacy pounded away at the Bulldogs’ defense with 143 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries.
MSU had a strong game from quarterback back Kamario Taylor on the ground, as he ran for 173 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries. Taylor didn’t have as much luck throwing the ball, as he went 15–31 for 178 yards and an interception.
MSU will miss out on bowl eligibility for a third straight year since the death of head coach Mike Leach in 2022. Whether or not second-year head coach Jeff Lebby will keep his job after a second-straight losing season and a blown 4–0 start remains in doubt.
Conversely, Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter has made it very clear what he wants to see happen on the sidelines in Oxford, Mississippi. Kiffin has been the head coach at Ole Miss since 2020, and he has a 55–19 record thus far.
“Coach Kiffin and I have had many pointed and positive conversations regarding his future at Ole Miss, including meeting today with Chancellor Boyce,” Carter wrote in a Nov. 21 statement. “While we discuss next steps, we know we cannot lose sight of what is most important—our sixth-ranked team that is poised to finish the regular season in historic fashion.”
Matthew Davis is an experienced, award-winning journalist who has covered major professional and college sports for years. His writing has appeared on Heavy, the Star Tribune, and The Catholic Spirit. He has a degree in mass communication from North Dakota State University.
