Two monumental things happened Thanksgiving weekend: the Mississippi State Bulldogs clenched their 7th season win since 2000 against the Ole Miss Rebels and, as a result, Ole Miss fired head coach Ed Orgeron after only three seasons. For more than three quarters of the game, the Bulldogs (7-5, 4-4 SEC) found themselves unable or unwilling to shake the Rebels of an almost certain victory.
Then, at the Ole Miss 49-yard line, with 4th and 1 to go, Orgeron made a crucial decision. In a career-deciding move, he decided to go for it, chancing the field position with a shot at being up 20-0.
Running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran the ball and quickly got stopped by the Bulldogs’ defense for a 3-yard loss.
That one play changed the momentum of the game for the Dawgs, who in the last 8 minutes of the game amassed a remarkable 17 points.
Two touchdowns, including a 75-yard punt return by Derek Pegues, got the Bulldogs tied with the Rebels and prepared to go into overtime.
Then Adam Carlson kicked a 48-yard field goal, winning the game with seconds to go in the fourth quarter. It was the Bulldogs’ first Egg Bowl victory since 2005.
The 4th-and-1 decision and ensuing Bulldog rally sealed Orgeron’s fate.
“If I had to do it all over again, I probably would not make the same call,” Orgeron told the Associated Press Friday. “I understand that was a bad call and that it probably cost us the game. I understand that and I take the blame.”
Not only did it cost him the game, but Ole Miss athletic director Pete Boone told reporters Saturday that the decision was made to let Orgeron go after just three seasons.
“I told him that the chasm had grown too deep to go forward into next year,” Boone said. “He understood that, accepted it and was as strong a man as you can imagine Coach O being. It was a very gentlemanly conversation that we had.”
In his three years as head coach, Orgeron went 10-25 for the Rebs and 3-21 in SEC play.
This season the Rebels went 3-9 and were winless in SEC conference play for the first time in more than two decades.
A complete breakdown of the 2007 Egg Bowl will be featured in Friday’s Reflector, as well as the latest information regarding Ole Miss’ search for a new coach and the controversy surrounding Orgeron’s hasty firing.
Also, check www.reflector-online.com Tuesday for a Web-exclusive poll related to the Orgeron firing.