2025 Mississippi State football opponent preview: Ole Miss

The Magnolia state’s two biggest college football programs were on opposite ends of the good-bad season scale.

Ole Miss had one of its best years ever, winning 10 games and missing out on the College Football Playoff by just two spots. The Rebels even beat Georgia.

Mississippi State had one of its worst seasons ever, winning just two games neither of which were SEC games. The Bulldogs even lost to Toledo.

How to watch: Mississippi State at SEC Football Media Days

This season, there’s likely to be a regression towards the median. Ole Miss won’t be as good and Mississippi State won’t be as bad.

The Rebels will still be really good, though. Last season’s Ole Miss team was one of the most talented the program had ever seen and finished No. 3 in scoring offense and No. 2 in scoring defense. But a lot of those players are now on NFL teams.

Lane Kiffin and the Rebels have their work cutout for them if they want to repeat and surpass the successes of 2024.

Here’s a look at Mississippi State’s final regular season opponent of the 2025 season:

Offense

The obvious is Jaxson Dart is gone and Austin Simmons is in. Simmons looked good in one game last season, but 2025 will see him as a starter for the first time. The Rebels bring back Cayden Lee and tight end Dae’Quan Wright to catch passes, and also brought in Arkansas tight end Luke Hasz. Ole Miss also added several transfer portal players on offense to help fill out the receiving corps.

Simmons will also have a very different offensive line in front of him with four new starters.

Defense

The talent lost on the defensive side of the ball may have been greater than on offense. Walter Nolen, Trey Amos, JJ Pegues, Princely Umanmielen and Jared Ivey are all in the NFL now. However, Suntarine Perkins is back in Oxford and is one of the best in the nation. He had 10.5 sacks last year. Perkins will be a good starting point to build back the defensive line into the best in the nation.

Schedule

Ole Miss and Mississippi State should both be well-rested headed into the Egg Bowl, despite it being the regular season finale. Both teams will be on bye weeks. Just like last season, there’s a chance the Bulldogs could be a spoiler for Ole Miss’s potential playoff hopes.

Outlook

There’s more uncertainty around this Ole Miss team than the one a year ago. Simmons is expected to be good at quarterback, but expectations can be wrong. The Rebels had another strong transfer portal class to replace the talent that left for the NFL. The Bulldogs will need a lot of luck to win this Egg Bowl.

The Game

Date: Friday, November 28
Time: 11 a.m.
TV: ABC/ESPN
Location: Davis Wade Stadium, Starkville, Miss.

The Team

Head Coach: Lane Kiffin (44-18, 6th season)
Offensive Coordinator: Charlie Weiss Jr.
Defensive Coordinator: Pete Golding
2024 Record: 10-3 overall, 5-3 SEC
2024 Final Rankings: No. 11 AP, No. 13 Coaches, No. 14 CFP

The School

Location: Oxford, Mississippi
Founded: 1844
Enrollment: 24,710 (2024)
Nickname: Rebels
Colors: Navy blue, yale blue, Harvard crimson
Mascot: Tony the Landshark, Colonel Reb

The Program

Series History: Ole Miss leads 68-46-6
Last Meeting: Ole Miss 26, Mississippi State 14 (2024)
Last Conference Title: 1963, SEC
Last Bowl Game: 2024 Gator Bowl, def. Duke 52-20

The Schedule

August 30: Georgia State
September 6: at Kentucky *
September 13: Arkansas*
September 20: Tulane
September 27: LSU*
October 11: Washington State
October 18: at Georgia*
October 25: at Oklahoma*
November 1: South Carolina*
November 8: The Citadel
November 15: Florida*
November 28: at Mississippi State*

*Denotes a conference game