Year three of the Hugh Freeze journey at Ole Miss is almost over, and it’s ending right where it began. The Georgia Dome. Though his Ole Miss Rebels were hoping to end the season as SEC West Champions and eventually the inaugural College Football Playoff, they fell short of that goal and are sitting at 9-3 (5-3) with a bid to the 2014 Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl.
The new and improved Peach Bowl matches up teams hungry for more, two teams that may not be far off from playoff spots in the near future, which should make quite the game for many years to come.
The Rebels opened the year with a 35-13 win over the, now the Mountain West Champion, Boise State Broncos in Atlanta. Sunday’s announcement puts the Rebels back in Georgia to write the final paragraph of chapter three against the Big-12 Co-Champion TCU Horned Frogs.
Though there were much higher hopes when they were undefeated back in October, Rebel fans are pleased with this season’s success. Here are just a few of the highlights for Ole Miss this season:
- Wins over both teams who held the top spot in the CFB Playoff poll. (Alabama, Mississippi State)
- Defeated three conference champions. (Alabama, Boise State, Memphis)
- Held opponents to a nation-leading 13.8 points a game
- 6 Rebels received All-SEC honors, including 5 on the first team
- Leads the SEC in scoring defense, interceptions, turnovers forced, and third down defense
- 11 of Ole Miss’ 12 opponents achieved six wins or better (Vanderbilt finished 3-9)
Both teams are radically different. One plays in the high flying Big-12, while the other plays in the grind it out Southeastern Conference.The Horned Frogs may score 50 points during a game, but they’ll give up just as many on defense. In case you haven’t been following the No. 9 Rebels, they give up only 13.8 points a game which leads the nation in scoring defense as I noted above. Somethings gotta give right?
After the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl announcement came down I interviewed Sam Crenshaw, the founder of Peach State College Sports. You can find my full interview with Sam below.
More Peach Bowl preview coming soon. Until then follow Connor Hennessey on Twitter to keep updated.
Connor Hennessey is a writer and radio host in Oxford, Miss. He can be reached by email at cmhennes@go.olemiss.edu or @ConnorHennes on Twitter. Follow the Rebels at OleMissSports.com.
