“Unsportsmanlike conduct on all players for both teams…”

One of the more underrated rivalries in college football is the Egg Bowl.  On one level, it’s understandable, as neither team has been particularly relevant from a national title perspective — or even an SEC title perspective — for what seems like ages.  But maybe that’s what adds spice to the affair.  When you’ve got nothing to live for beyond sneering at your rival like this, for example,

https://twitter.com/FauxMattLuke/status/1065833571875729409

… it’s easy to see how the fire gets stoked year after year.  Just because the stakes are lower doesn’t have to mean the anger is less pure.

In that sense, this may be the perfect rivalry.

Ole Miss and Mississippi State didn’t let us down in that regard last night.  The 35-3 outcome may have been a snoozer, but that doesn’t mean it was a boring night.  Not when this happened:

Mississippi State and Ole Miss are NOT in the holiday spirit.

"Unsportsmanlike conduct on all players for both teams…" pic.twitter.com/Cf6efueNSu

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 23, 2018

It’s like the old hockey joke about going to a fight and a game broke out.  My favorite comment of the night was this:

“I was helping break some of it up,” Ole Miss tight end Dawson Knox said, “but there’s not much you can do when the whole team is going at it.”

True ‘dat, brah.  Then, again…

One positive from tonight is that the kickers, punters, and long snappers for Ole Miss and Mississippi State will always be able to tell the tale of the time they got hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

— Gray Hardison (@BellyoftheBeast) November 23, 2018

The pleasantries continued after the game.  There was the inevitable flag planting on the opponent’s field that wasn’t appreciated.

A flag plant at midfield by Mississippi State led to more scuffling. pic.twitter.com/OjozWeGES2

— TJ Werre (@TJ_XTV) November 23, 2018

It may have been Joe Moorhead’s first rodeo, so to speak, but it didn’t take long for him to get in the spirit of the season.

3/3 Joe Moorhead on the field after the game. "I'm the one trying to diffuse the situation, not their big mouth f—— AD" pic.twitter.com/nv7RDlM8oY

— Mike Sands (@Mike_Sands) November 23, 2018

“We coached our kids to do the right thing and play with poise, play with confidence, play with dignity, play with class,” Moorhead said, “but at the same time, we’re not going to take anyone’s s—, either.”

I’m not certain you can play an Egg Bowl with dignity and class.  Even if you could, who would want to watch it?

Oh, and some of you more observant types may have noticed that, even though the ruckus broke out in the wake of an Ole Miss touchdown, the final score only reflected that the Rebs/Landsharks only scored three points on the night.  The discrepancy is easy to explain.

The third-quarter touchdown, the prelude to all the ruckus, didn’t even count. After review, referees determined the play clock had expired before the snap, moving Ole Miss back to Mississippi State’s 41-yard line. The Rebels punted three players later.

Those fight replay reviews are a bitch, man.  That paragraph may be the perfect summary of Ole Miss’ season.

Just another Egg Bowl.