Joe Morhead Previews Egg Bowl in Weekly Press Conference

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Mississippi State head football coach Joe Moorhead met with the media on Monday for his weekly press conference.

He started out by recapping the 45-7 Homecoming win over Abilene Christian.

“I thought it was a very productive game. I thought we did some nice things,” Moorhead said. “Offensively, we were spearheaded by Kylin Hill. He was our player of the game for the offense — over 100 yards, his seventh 100-yard game of the season, and right on the cusp of breaking the school single-season record, so real nice job by Kylin in the game and our offensive line,” Moorhead said.

Defensively, Moorhead said two first-year players, Fred Peters and Nathan Pickering, were co-defensive players of the game.

The topic of discussion quickly switched to the all important Egg Bowl game against rival Ole Miss on Thanksgiving Day.

What does Moorhead think of football on Thanksgiving?

“Two great American pastimes. Turkey and football, let’s put them together,” Moorhead said.

“It’s a game that’s going to be played with great emotion, great passion,” Moorhead said. “I don’t think you quite understand it until you’re in it,” he said.

What lies ahead is Moorhead’s biggest task—and Moorhead knows how important winning this game is to the school and the state of Mississippi, and he’s going to “make sure that beautiful trophy stays here in the Seal building.”

“It would mean everything to me,” Moorhead said. “I think it would mean everything to these kids and our fans and this university and the great state of Mississippi because this is ‘the’ game. I understand it. I understand the magnitude of it. President [Mark] Keenum kind of clearly expressed that when we first got the job,” Moohead said.

”I’m very excited for the opportunity to play this game. Our kids are fired up. I know our fans are fired up, as they should be. It’s Egg Bowl week. We got to do everything we can to make sure that trophy stays put downstairs in the case,” Moorhead said.

This game’s importance is huge. A win would mean that the Bulldogs get to a bowl game for the 10th straight season. A loss could mean, well, what does a loss mean for Moorhead?

The MSU administration has not had any conversations with Moorhead about what the outcome of the Egg Bowl means for his job status, Moorhead said Monday. His answer to that question was a simple “no.”

“I think the outcome of this game means we win the Egg Bowl and go on to the postseason,” Moorhead said.

The Bulldogs and Rebels are set to kickoff on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.