Ole Miss LB Pooh Paul Wants to 'Keep Spirits High' Entering Egg Bowl Week

The Ole Miss Rebels suffered a devastating loss on Saturday, but linebacker Pooh Paul is hoping to keep emotions in the right direction.

Sep 14, 2024; Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; Mississippi Rebels linebacker Chris Paul Jr. (11) during pregame activity against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

The Ole Miss Rebels saw their College Football Playoff hopes take a massive hit on Saturday in a 24-17 loss to the Florida Gators, and the locker room following the game was understandably emotional.

Rebels linebacker Pooh Paul was made available to the media after the loss, and he revealed the team's postgame mood as well as what led to Ole Miss dropping the must-win game. In short, he doesn't think the Rebels played their best ball on Saturday, and Florida was able to take advantage.

"The guys are pretty down, but like I was saying to them, we've faced adversity before," Paul said. "It's not the outcome we wanted, but we made more mistakes than they did today. Nothing against Florida. They're a great team, and they've put up dogfights with top teams before.

"I feel like the team that made the less mistakes today won, and that's the outcome."

Now, Ole Miss is faced with a difficult task. With their College Football Playoff hopes in almost-nonexistent territory, the Rebels will have to try and right the ship for their final regular season game on Friday against in-state rival Mississippi State.

Paul believes the key focus for this year's Egg Bowl is keeping the team's morale moving in the right direction after such a brutal loss in Gainesville.

"Just keeping spirits high," Paul said. "Like I said, the locker room is pretty down right now, but we've just got to keep those guys' spirits high. I always look at it like this: there's bigger things in life going on than a football game. People out there are actually struggling in this world.

"We face adversity, but it's all about keeping spirits high. It could be way worse than what it is. We put ourselves in a great position, I feel honestly. With the loss today, that was pretty tough. They hit us very hard, but I feel like we're going to be pretty good going into next Friday."

Kickoff between Ole Miss and Mississippi State on Friday is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised on ABC.