EGG BOWL Ole Miss stays in title race

The Rebels can earn their first trip to the league title game if LSU loses today.
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) -- As the Egg Bowl wound down, some Mississippi fans started doing Arkansas' famed "Pig Sooie" cheer.
The Rebels might be doing the same today.
"I'm the biggest Hog fan ever," Ole Miss receiver Chris Collins said.
Eli Manning threw for 260 yards and three touchdowns and Collins caught eight passes for 113 yards to lead the Rebels to a 31-0 victory over Mississippi State on Thursday night that kept them in the SEC West title hunt.
No. 17 Ole Miss (9-3, 7-1) can earn its first trip to the SEC championship game if No. 3 LSU loses to Arkansas today in Baton Rouge.
"We've done everything we could, but we just came up short against LSU," Manning said. "It's still been the best season for Ole Miss in a long time. It's been a career year. Everything has been great."
The Rebels, who lost 17-14 to LSU last week, won nine regular-season games for the first time since 1990.
Lopsided loss
They also sent Bulldogs coach Jackie Sherrill into retirement with his worst Egg Bowl loss in the 100th meeting between the Magnolia state rivals.
The Bulldogs (2-10, 1-7) ended the season with six straight lopsided losses. Since the 60-year-old Sherrill announced his retirement on Oct. 17, the Bulldogs have been outscored 267-57.
Sherrill received a long, loud standing ovation from the Bulldogs fans when he was introduced before the game.
But by the fourth quarter, most of the rain-soaked fans remaining were rooting for the Rebels.
"It was a very, very good ride," he said. "I'm sorry we couldn't finish it the last couple of years like we should have."
Sherrill completed 13 seasons at Mississippi State 75-75-2, but was just 8-27 in the final three.
Sherrill won over Bulldogs fans by becoming the first Mississippi State coach in decades to consistently beat Ole Miss, doing it seven times in his first 11 seasons.
In the end, he couldn't even do that.
The Rebels won the Battle for the Golden Egg for the second straight season, a first during the Sherrill era.
Easy victory
And never have the Rebels so easily dismantled Sherrill's Bulldogs.
Ole Miss outgained the Bulldogs 359-192. Kevin Fant, playing his last game for Mississippi State, was 14-for-28 for 91 yards.
"We knew we had to put pressure on them early, because we knew that regardless what happened to them this season they'd be ready to play us," Ole Miss defensive tackle Jesse Mitchell said.
The previous largest margin of victory for Ole Miss against Sherrill's teams was 15. The shutout was the Rebels' first against the Bulldogs since 1971.
Manning and his Heisman Trophy candidacy took a beating in the loss to LSU last Saturday. The senior quarterback was often off target against the Tigers, but was impeccable with his passing in a steady -- at times driving -- rain against the lowly Bulldogs.
"We played under tough circumstances," Manning said. "You just try not to think about it."
He passed for more yards (211) in the first half against Mississippi State than he did in the entire game against LSU (200) as the Rebels built a 24-0 lead.