Glen Collins and 'that quarterback'

This is the second of a series of Egg Bowl memories of Ole Miss and State greats from yesteryear.

Jackson's own Glen Collins, one of Mississippi State's all-time great defensive linemen, played in four Egg Bowls, all in Jackson.

“Seems like we always played them on a dreary or rainy day,” Collins says. “It was always gray.”

And the games, says Collins, always were competitive.

His favorite?

“That's a tough one, but it's got to be my junior year (1980),” Collins says. “That was the year we beat Alabama and went to the Sun Bowl. As I recall, Ole Miss wasn't having that good a year, but they always played us tough.

“Funny what I always remember most about playing against Ole Miss was playing against that quarterback,” Collins says.

John Fourcade?

“You got it,” Collins says, chuckling. “I just call him that quarterback. Never heard a guy talk so much trash on the field. Man, that guy talked trash to his own teammates, but he made the games interesting, I will say that.”

Fourcade led the SEC in total offense in 1980 and led the Rebels to a fourth quarter touchdown that gave them a 14-13 lead. This was the first Egg Bowl played in expanded Veterans Memorial Stadium, before 62,500 fans, and half of them were going wild.

But John Bond then took State on a touchdown drive for a 19-14 victory.

“I remember hitting that quarterback so many times but it was always after he had thrown the ball,” Collins says. “He'd throw it in the stands and then get up laughing. But I finally got him, and The Clarion-Ledger ran a picture of it. I've still got that paper somewhere.”