LOOK: Check out Ole Miss’ Peach Bowl celebration - from the field to the locker room
STAFF AND WIRE | For the first time in Ole Miss’ 129 seasons of college football, the Rebels have won 11 games, capping off the season with a 38-25 victory over No. 10 Penn State in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Saturday afternoon inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Ole Miss (11-2) offense picked apart the nation’s top defense, recording the most points (38), passing yards (394) and total yards (540) Penn State (10-3) has allowed this season.
The total yards marked the second straight bowl game for Ole Miss with at least 500 yards of total offense, again displaying head coach Lane Kiffin’s offensive prowess in his second New Year’s Six appearance at the helm for the Rebels.
“It’s really a cool time right now at Ole Miss,” Kiffin said in his postgame press conference. “To win the most games in the history of the school and to have so many pieces already announcing that they’re coming back, which I made sure a couple of them are still doing that after their performances today.
“But I think it’s a really special time.”
“I said that when I got hired, we didn’t come here to be good and win some decent bowl games and some matches. We came here to be great, win New Year’s Six bowls like this, and be a Top 10 program.
“So, to not just have so many players coming back, but it’s been well-publicized so many players around the country already joining in for next year. I just thought it was obviously extremely important to cap this thing off right because I felt like the last couple weeks so much focus was on next year.
“Obviously they did a great job showing up today.”
The Chucky Awards: So many Rebels shined in Ole Miss’ historic Peach Bow
Junior quarterback Jaxson Dart led the Rebel assault.
Dart ended the day with 393 total yards, four total touchdowns and no interceptions.
He set a new Ole Miss bowl record with his 379 passing yards.
The Rebel duo of offensive MVP Caden Prieskorn and Tre Harris were the primary beneficiaries of Dart’s big day. They combined for 270 yards and two touchdowns on the day, with Prieskorn coming through with an Ole-Miss-bowl-record 10 receptions. Both Prieskorn (136) and Harris (134) fell just shy of the Rebel bowl record of 137 receiving yards.
Star sophomore running back Quinshon Judkins was excellent again. Judkins piled up 120 all-purpose yards and one touchdown. He had 106 yards on the ground. He became just the second 100-yard rusher against Penn State this season. Judkins now turns to his third Ole Miss season ranked third in school history in rushing yards (2,725).
Senior defensive end and bowl defensive MVP Jared Ivey led the way for the Ole Miss defense. Ivey had five tackles, two tackles for loss and two pass breakups.
“It was really cool,” Ivey, a former transfer from Georgia Tech, said of the win. “I had maybe 20-30 people come to the game today. It was awesome to just make history with my guys, and then even more special to do it at home.
“So, it was great.”
