Egg Bowl memories: Deuce leads off

Today we'll begin a week-long Egg Bowl series, involving former players on both sides of the rivalry, and their favorite memories from Egg Bowls past.

We begin with Deuce McAllister, who almost became a Mississippi State Bulldog before he went to Ole Miss.

"My cousin, Michael Davis, was a great player at Mississippi State, and I had a good relationship with Coach Sherrill," McAllister said Sunday. "I probably visited Mississippi State and spent more time of their campus than I did Ole Miss."

But McAllister chose Ole Miss and became one of the Rebels' all-time greats, before going on to a productive career with the New Orleans Saints.

His best Egg Bowl memory?

"Got to be the last one (a 45-30 Ole Miss victory in 2000)," McAllister said. "That was the last time I ever walked off my homefield at Ole Miss and I walked off knowing we had won, we had beaten our arch-rivals and that I had left everything I had on the field."

Boy, did he . . . McAllister rushed for three touchdowns and passed for another to lead Ole Miss to a  Thanksgiving night victory. On Senior Night at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, McAllister hit his good friend and fellow fourth-year Rebel Romaro Miller on a 20-yard halfback option touchdown pass and  finished with 121 yards rushing on 24 carries. State had won the previous two Egg Bowls.

"I've got so many memories from those games," said McAllister, who finished 2-2 in his career against State. "My first one was when Cory Peterson caught the two-point conversion and we won."

Tomorrow: Mississippi State great Glen Collins.