OXFORD, Miss., Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Eli Manning passed for two touchdowns and ran for another Thursday night as Mississippi snapped a five-game losing streak and became bowl-eligible with a 24-12 win over archrival Mississippi State in the annual battle for the "Egg Bowl."
Manning was 16-of-29 for 207 yards, 130 to Chris Collins, and two interceptions for the Rebels (6-6, 3-5 SEC West), who handed the Bulldogs (3-9, 0-8) a fifth straight defeat.
The Bulldogs climbed to within 17-12 on a 22-yard pass from Kevin Fant to Ray Ray Bivines 2:06 into the fourth quarter, but redshirt freshman cornerback Travis Johnson later intercepted Fant deep inside Mississippi State territory, leading to Manning's one-yard sneak with 4:51 remaining to cap the scoring.
The home team has won four straight games in this series since the visiting squad won five in a row from 1994-98. Ole Miss leads the all-time series, 56-37-6, including 50-20-5 since the two school started playing for the trophy in 1927.
Ole Miss took a 7-3 lead on a 28-yard toss from Manning to Collins with eight minutes left in the second quarter, and extended its advantage to 14-3 on a 77-yard hookup between the two with 8:52 to play in the third quarter.
Mississippi State outgained Ole Miss, 419-297, but Fant, who passed for 340 yards, was harried into three interceptions and sacked four times. Bivines had six receptions for 115 yards in the loss.
David Cutcliffe joined Harry Mehre as the only Rebel coaches to win at least six games in each of his first four seasons at Ole Miss.
