Keys to Victory: Three Bulldogs to Watch on Thursday

Three players to watch as Mississippi State and Ole Miss fight for the Golden Egg on Thursday.

Mississippi State will welcome their biggest rivals, the Ole Miss Rebels, to Starkville on Thursday evening for the annual Egg Bowl. 

The Bulldogs (7-4) are slightly favored in the matchup according to ESPN, but the Rebels (9-2) are playing with the hopes of a New Year's Six bowl berth on the line. As fans of both teams know, the game is never predictable. 

Here are three Bulldogs whose performances will be extremely important if MSU wants a big win over their in-state rivals this weekend. 

1. QB Will Rogers

Quarterback Will Rogers has had an outstanding season for the Bulldogs. Through 11 games this season, he is 435-of-572 passing for 4,113 yards with 34 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He leads the entire SEC in total passing yards and completion percentage. November has been a great month for Rogers. He had a career-high and MSU record six passing touchdowns against Auburn on Nov. 13, and broke Dak Prescott's single-season records for passing yards and passing touchdowns against Tennessee State last weekend. If Rogers can keep the momentum of this month going, he should be able to handle the Ole Miss defense pretty easily.

2. LB Jett Johnson

In the 2020 season, linebacker Jett Johnson saw playing time in five games and only had three tackles. This year, he has made huge strides and shown that he can be a true leader on Zach Arnett's defense. So far this season, Johnson has 74 total tackles, five tackles-for-losses and two fumble recoveries. His presence on the field is intimidating to any opponent. However, Johnson is going up against one of the toughest offenses that the team has faced this season. The Rebels are led by Heisman-contender quarterback Matt Corral and have a strong rushing game. The Tupelo native understands how much this game means to fans of both teams and there is no doubt that he will give everything he has to his team.

3. WR Jaden Walley

Last season against Ole Miss, wide receiver Jaden Walley had a monster game. He totaled a whopping 176 receiving yards on only nine receptions-- that's an average of 19.6 yards per catch. Walley hasn't had a game like that this season, but Thursday would be the perfect time to have a repeat performance. Walley has proven that he can be an explosive playmaker and being in front of his home crowd should give him the motivation he needs to put up a career performance.