An Ole Miss Army ROTC cadet carries the 2021 Egg Bowl game ball through Calhoun City during the annual relay. The annual run serves as a fundraiser for food pantries across north Mississippi. Photo by Thomas Graning/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services
OXFORD, Miss. – Cadets from the University of Mississippi and Mississippi State University will relay nearly 100 miles across the state on Sunday (Nov. 19) for the annual Egg Bowl Run.
Before hitting the field for the game on Thanksgiving, Ole Miss and the Bulldogs will compete to see who can collect the most canned food for rural Mississippians ahead of the holidays, said Maj. Josh Edwards, assistant professor of military science. The UM Department of Military Science is taking donations at Barnard Hall until Friday (Nov. 17).
“The reason is simply to facilitate community engagement across ROTC and the universities,” Edwards said. “We know we’re ‘rivals’ but we’re still on the same team. We can do something together for good in the name of that rivalry.”
Chancellor Glenn Boyce (left) accepts the game ball from Ole Miss Magnolia Battalion cadets after the 2022 Egg Bowl Run. Each year, cadets from Ole Miss and Mississippi State University leg the game ball nearly 100 miles across north Mississippi. Photo by Thomas Graning/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services
As a part of the annual run – in which cadets from the Army, Air Force, Marine and Navy ROTC deliver the game ball to the university hosting the Egg Bowl – the opposing teams will meet at the Calhoun City town square, where supporters can join the cadets for a 1-mile run around the town, Edwards said.
Both teams will deliver their canned goods to the Calhoun City Chamber of Commerce, where they will be dispersed to two local churches that operate food pantries, he said.
The Ole Miss cadets will start from the Old Armory Pavilion on University Avenue at 5 a.m. Sunday.
Twenty-nine UM students volunteered for the Egg Bowl run this year. Groups of three or four will divide the 40-mile jog from Oxford to Calhoun City in a relay-style run.
“It’s not mandatory; the ones that choose to do it are volunteering their time,” he said. “We explain it and if they want to participate, they can. This year, we have a great turnout.”
The Egg Bowl Run began in 2013 as a way for Ole Miss and Mississippi State ROTC groups to support university athletics and raise money for good causes.
An Ignite Ole Miss campaign is raising support for the annual event. Visit ignite.olemiss.edu to support the Egg Bowl Run.