Penn State will finish its 2023 football season in the Peach Bowl, facing Ole Miss for a Dec. 30 showdown. Both programs carry a record of 10-2, with those losses occurring against conference heavyweights (Michigan and Ohio State for the No. 10 Nittany Lions; Alabama and Georgia for the No. 11 Rebels), creating an intriguing game in Atlanta.
Led by fourth-year head coach Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss is seeking 11 victories for the first time in school history. This marks the Rebels’ second New Year’s Six bowl appearance in three seasons, following an absence from such games dating back to 2015, while Penn State is preparing for its fifth NY6 opportunity since 2016.
“Me and Lane have known each other for a long time,” Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin said Sunday during a Peach Bowl press conference. “Obviously I’ve followed his career from afar. We have a lot of friends in common as well. It’s been great to watch those guys play when I’ve had the opportunity this year as well. He’s always played an exciting brand of football.”
Earlier this week, Penn State was established as a four-point betting favorite. The Rebels held an underdog label in three regular-season contests, failing to cover the spread during defeats to Alabama and Georgia, and beating LSU outright, 55-49.
Featuring a former blue-chip transfer at quarterback and a 1,000-yard rusher at running back, Ole Miss presents proven offensive firepower, though that unit struggled to produce in the two aforementioned defeats. A battle against Penn State’s lauded defense represents another notable test, though opt-out news has already put a dent into that Nittany Lions group.
Still three weeks away from kickoff between these Big Ten and SEC squads, we sought more info on Ole Miss from 247Sports Rebels reporter Tyler Komis. Continue reading for his perspective on Penn State’s next opponent….
Compared to preseason expectations, the overall reaction to finishing with a New Year’s Six matchup against a top-10 team would best be described as overachieving. If you had asked any Ole Miss fan if they would’ve taken a 10-2 record with the schedule they were given, with their only two losses to the SEC champion and the (then) No. 1 team in the country, and thrown in a New Year’s Six bowl possibility, the overwhelming answer would’ve been ‘no-brainer’.
They came into the season with one of the toughest schedules in the country (No. 6 in strength of schedule) and came out of it with the No. 8 strength of record. Internally, the team will probably tell you that this is what they were expecting, if not more.
In our preseason projections, I had them winning the most games with nine by the end of the regular season. It was initially considered too optimistic, but now we know they were mightily underestimated.
When healthy for the first four weeks of the season, Ole Miss’ offensive line was struggling so bad that their superstar back, Quinshon Judkins, couldn’t even crack 65 rushing yards in a game until their fifth matchup of the year. Quarterback Jaxson Dart was taking a beating week after week. But after that Sept. 23 Alabama game, the line did a complete 180 and the run game looked as good as it ever had and kept Dart’s jersey a cleaner than usual.
However, the unit endured a major setback within their resurgence going into their ‘Super Bowl’ against (then) No. 1 Georgia. They lost their starting right tackle in Micah Pettus, who broke a bone in his foot during practice, then lost Jayden Williams (high-ankle sprain), their replacement left tackle who was in to help the woes. Neither have played since, but Williams’ situation looks a lot brighter than Pettus’. Williams did suit up for Ole Miss in their last game played, but did not play a snap due to the injury.
Dart is a much improved signal-caller from a year ago and has done a tremendous job of protecting the football. He has significantly cut down on his interception total from a year ago and has been even more efficient through the air. Although, having a receiver trio of Tre Harris, Dayton Wade and Jordan Watkins certainly helps. All three pass catchers are up to over 700 receiving yards each and consistently make game-changing plays for this offense.
Judkins headlines the rushing charge, but when he and Ulysses Bentley get going it’s like thunder and lightning. Ole Miss’ offense is easily at its best when these two are in a rhythm. Starting tight end Caden Prieskorn hasn’t had the ball in his hands for much of the year, but has ripped off plenty of long catches throughout the season. He’s also been a huge reason why the run game saw a resurgence following the team’s trip to Tuscaloosa (missed first three games).
WHAT DO WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS OLE MISS DEFENSE — GOOD AND BAD — AND WHO ARE THE UNIT’S MOST VALUABLE PLAYERS?
WHAT KIND OF MOTIVATION DO YOU EXPECT FROM OLE MISS THIS POSTSEASON AND ARE THERE ANY PLAYER AVAILABILITY ISSUES OR POTENTIAL FOR OPT-OUTS?
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