Ole Miss crushes OK State in Sugar Bowl

Ole Miss tackle Laremy Tunsil rumbled in for touchdown on a slick trick play.

Relish the experience: There was a time, when people liked Ike, that Ole Miss was a Sugar Bowl fixture.

For Ole Miss, it appears that is not an issue leading up to the 2016 Sugar Bowl. Southern Cal has a 34-18 on-the-field bowl record for a. 654 winning percentage, and Penn State has a 28-15-2 bowl record for a winning percentage of.644.

NOLA.com’s Jeff Duncan wrote a column entitled: Hotty Toddy, gosh almighty, the Ole Miss Rebels are for real. Ole Miss ranked No. 55 in total defense, No. 33 in scoring and No. 98 against the pass…. Chris Collins set the Rebels’ record with 198 receptions from 2000 through 2003. It will need to be on top of its game against a top Oklahoma State offense.

With a powerful offensive line and a sturdy defense, they also ruined the first trip to Pasadena in 25 years for the Hawkeyes (12-2), who followed up their 12-0 regular season with two postseason losses.

Freeze and his Rebels will be taking on the 10-2 Oklahoma State Cowboys tomorrow night but the road to the Superdome wasn’t one without adversity.

On the defensive side of the ball, All-American and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Emmanuel Ogbah leads the Big 12 in both sacks and tackles for loss. Ole Miss hadn’t played in the Sugar Bowl in 46 years, but its return to the French Quarter was a resounding success.

After last year’s capitulation in the Peach Bowl, this year’s Sugar Bowl victory serves as a redemption for Ole Miss and could act as a springboard heading into the 2016 season.

Nick: Will the absence of the Nkemdiches hurt Ole Miss?

The Rebels’ offense got on track later in the first quarter when Kelly hit a wide open Cody Core for a 31-yard touchdown that made it 10-3 and started the onslaught. The Rebel defense held the Cowboys to just 36 yards in the opening quarter, including minus-eight on the ground. The Cowboys could only muster up 366 total yards, their second lowest output of the season.

12 Consecutive games with a TD pass for Ole Miss QB Chad Kelly. “We came in here with great focus, and we got it done”. Walsh rushed 10 times for 74 yards and two touchdowns in a little more than a quarter, but it was too little, too late. Add in the likely departures of Laquon Treadwell and Laremy Tunsil, along with the already-announced departure of Robert Nkemdiche, and Ole Miss will have plenty of holes to fill between now and kickoff against Florida State Sept. 5. News 25 will be live at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans tomorrow at 5:30 on WXXV NBC. Treadwell’s streak is the longest in the SEC. He finished with six catches for 71 yards and the three scores and 45 passing yards. That should mean big things for Treadwell and the Rebels and oddsmakers see it that way as well. Now the programs meet in the Sugar Bowl for the first time. Two games matched SEC opponents. The season showcased a defense that only gives up 24.6 points a game and only 4.8 yards a play. Archie Manning started that Sugar Bowl game in 1970 – a 27-22 win against Arkansas.

The Rebels scored another touchdown heading into halftime to take a 34-6 lead. The nephew of Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly, Chad Kelly enrolled at Ole Miss in January and won the starting job….

McCaffrey was sublime in his debut at the Granddaddy of Them All, breaking the all-purpose yards record set by Wisconsin’s Jared Abbrederis in 2012. Yes, the SEC West was good this year.