Clemson transfer linebacker TJ Dudley is eligible to play for Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl
Turns out TJ Dudley is going to be playing football this season after all.
Lane Kiffin said Wednesday during his Early Signing Day press conference Dudley, who was dismissed by Clemson and joined Ole Miss in July, would make his Rebel debut in the Peach Bowl.
The Rebels take on Penn State for the first time in history on December 30. Kickoff of the game, a matchup of 10-win teams, is set for 11 a.m. CT. The Rebels are appearing in their second New Year’s Six bowl in four seasons under Kiffin.
Ole Miss will be going for its first-ever 11-win campaign.
“TJ Dudley can play in the Peach Bowl,” Kiffin said. Dudley sat out the regular season due to NCAA rules. “That’s neat for him.
“I think it should have been that way anyway. They changed the rule once the rosters got smaller where you can’t burn a redshirt in a bowl game. It doesn’t count toward eligibility. It’s a good ruling in that way.
The green light for Dudley is the result of a court ruling against the NCAA last week.
A U.S. District Judge last Wednesday issued a temporary restraining order against the NCAA. The TRO was converted to a preliminary injunction a day later, meaning all two-time transfers in college athletics were made immediately eligible to play for the rest of the season.
Ole Miss first felt the impact in basketball, when Brandon Murray, a two-time transfer from LSU and Georgetown, made his debut in a win over Cal on Saturday. He had four points and three rebounds in a blowout of Troy on Tuesday.
“I think it’s going to be a process getting Brandon back,” Ole Miss basketball coach Chris Beard said following the win. “He was practicing with the team, but it’s just different when all of the sudden he knew he could play. We’re starting to see an elevated performance from him in practice.
“It’s just going to be a process coming back. I think his heart’s in the right place.”
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The Rebels are 11-0 to begin a season for the fourth time in school history.
The win streak is the program’s fifth-longest all-time.
The Peach Bowl will serve as a 2024 showcase for Dudley — a candidate to start for the Rebels next season, when the College Football Playoff expands to 12 teams. Ole Miss has also added to the position through the portal this off-season, namely in decorated Arkansas transfer Chris ‘Pooh’ Paul.
Dudley is a former four-star recruit in the 2022 class. He was ranked as the nation’s No. 293 overall player, as well as the No. 32 linebacker. He played in four games for Clemson in 2022 and made tackles against North Carolina and Tennessee in the Orange Bowl.
Ole Miss is poised to lose one-year transfers and rotation stalwarts Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste and Monty Montgomery after the Peach Bowl.
“It’s a disappointing situation because he’s a good kid and a man,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said at the time of Dudley’s dismissal. “He had a chance to be a great player for us this year. So, that definitely hurts us. It’s unfortunate.”
Ole Miss over the last few weeks has put together one of, if not the top, transfer classes in the nation.
Along with Paul, the Rebels have landed South Carolina star wide receiver Juice Wells, Mississippi State starting cornerback Decamerion Richardson, the top-two EDGE rushers in the portal in Tyler Baron (Tennessee) and Princely Umanmielen (Florida), and safeties Tamarion McDonald (Tennessee) and Key Lawrence (Oklahoma).
All stand as reinforcements for soon-to-be second-year coordinator Pete Golding and his Ole Miss defense that was vastly improved this season. The Rebels finished in the Top 25 in ESPN’s defensive S&P rankings.
“We sat in a (press conference following a 52-17 loss to Georgia) and this started,” Kiffin said. “You sensed my disappointment. We had to do everything in our power to change how we look as a team and defensively.
“We signed and improved with significant players in the SEC, especially on defense. We’ll compete with a chance to be an elite defense in the SEC.”
