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The University of Mississippi Athletics
GAMEDAY PREVIEW: Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
12/31/2014 | Football
Dec. 31, 2014
Ole Miss Bowl Central | Official Peach Bowl Site | TCU Bowl Central
| Twitter Updates | TV Network: ESPN | Ole Miss Radio Network (Sirius 83, XM 83)
Bowl Week Report 12.26 | Bowl Week Report 12.27 | Bowl Week Report 12.28
Bowl Week Report 12.29 | Bowl Week Report 12.30 | BLOG: Keys to Ole Miss-TCU
ATLANTA, Ga. - Making its third straight bowl appearance, No. 9 Ole Miss will take on No. 6 TCU in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, the first "New Year's Six" bowl. Like last season, the Rebels will end their season in the same city in which they began it. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. ET and will be televised by ESPN.
"To be here in year three of our journey, I think, is validation for us," Freeze said. "You guys again that follow me know that I'm a big-picture guy, and I don't make too much of one win or too much of one loss. I don't think I can afford to do that where we are. I just stay on the big picture.
"And again, for us, in three years to have gone to three consecutive bowl games, and this year being a New Year's Six Bowl, I think, is validation enough that we're on the right track and we were very, very competitive."
This year's team won nine regular-season games for the first time since 2003, defeating four 10-win teams and three conference champions along the way. Ole Miss (9-3) rose as high as No. 3 in the national rankings and finished the regular season at No. 9, its highest final regular-season ranking since 1963.
One of only four top-10 bowl matchups, the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl features the nation's leading scoring defense (Ole Miss, 13.8 points per game) against the nation's second-leading scoring offense (TCU, 46.8 ppg).
"I can't remember a time this year that I didn't feel like the defense played well enough, if we did those other things, that we wouldn't have a chance," Freeze said. "So it's hard, you know, not to feel that way going into this game. I don't know that we've played a team that has the tempo and the athleticism at the skill positions. I'm not quite sure we have faced that exact combination yet, so that will be a great challenge for us."
The Rebels are led by senior cornerback Senquez Golson, the first consensus first team All-American and first unanimous choice since offensive tackle Michael Oher in 2008. Golson leads the SEC and ranks second nationally with nine interceptions.
The Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and fourth-place finisher for the Heisman Trophy, TCU junior quarterback Trevone Boykin ranks third nationally in total offense (363.0 ypg) and has helped key the nation's statistically most improved offense in both total yards and scoring from last season.
"We can anticipate to a certain point what's going to happen, but there is always room where we're going to have to adjust," senior safety Cody Prewitt said "That's what defense is all about. There is anticipation and then there's adjustment to that anticipation. The biggest thing is we're not going to be able to stop him. Our best chance is to contain him because he's so good at extending plays and finding big plays where not very many people can."
Offensively, Ole Miss will be without three starters due to injuries in junior offensive guard Aaron Morris, senior wide receiver Vince Sanders and sophomore wide receiver Laquon Treadwell.
Freshman offensive guard Rod Taylor will make his second career start, while junior wide receiver Cody Core, sophomore wide receiver Quincy Adeboyejo, freshman wide receiver Markell Pack and sophomore tight end Evan Engram will all step into bigger roles in the passing game.
"We're down a couple playmakers that we depended on this year, but we have guys like Cody Core and Markell Pack, who have had to step up, senior quarterback Bo Wallace said. "Evan, too. Hopefully he will play the way he did against Mississippi State, and we expect that because he's so explosive and he's a mismatch."
Already the school's all-time leader in total offense, Wallace has an opportunity to become the first Ole Miss quarterback to start and win three bowl games and become the winningest quarterback in modern Ole Miss history, but like his head coach, he has his sights set on the big picture.
A win over TCU (11-1) would give the Rebels their first 10-win season since 2003 and perhaps their first top-five final ranking since 1962, when they finished No. 3 in the nation, and it may also provide the program with a springboard heading into the 2015 season.
"It can put us at a new level," Wallace said. "It can have us preseason top-five and put these guys in a great spot to do great things because, honestly, next year it's a national title-type roster.
Ole Miss will be making its 36th bowl appearance, tied for 18th on the NCAA Division I list of all-time bowl berth. The Rebels are 23-12 in bowl games, with their .657 winning percentage second-best among all schools.
Ole Miss is 10-1 in its last 11 bowl games, including a current streak of six straight victories that is tied with Florida State for the best in the nation. The Rebels won their only other Peach Bowl appearance, defeating Georgia Tech in the 1971 game.
Ole Miss and TCU have met six times in their history, most recently in 1983. The Rebels hold a 5-1 advantage in the series, including wins in each of their two postseason meeting in the 1948 Delta Bowl and the 1956 Cotton Bowl.
| Twitter Updates | TV Network: ESPN | Ole Miss Radio Network (Sirius 83, XM 83)
Bowl Week Report 12.26 | Bowl Week Report 12.27 | Bowl Week Report 12.28
Bowl Week Report 12.29 | Bowl Week Report 12.30 | BLOG: Keys to Ole Miss-TCU
ATLANTA, Ga. - Making its third straight bowl appearance, No. 9 Ole Miss will take on No. 6 TCU in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, the first "New Year's Six" bowl. Like last season, the Rebels will end their season in the same city in which they began it. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. ET and will be televised by ESPN.
"To be here in year three of our journey, I think, is validation for us," Freeze said. "You guys again that follow me know that I'm a big-picture guy, and I don't make too much of one win or too much of one loss. I don't think I can afford to do that where we are. I just stay on the big picture.
"And again, for us, in three years to have gone to three consecutive bowl games, and this year being a New Year's Six Bowl, I think, is validation enough that we're on the right track and we were very, very competitive."
This year's team won nine regular-season games for the first time since 2003, defeating four 10-win teams and three conference champions along the way. Ole Miss (9-3) rose as high as No. 3 in the national rankings and finished the regular season at No. 9, its highest final regular-season ranking since 1963.
One of only four top-10 bowl matchups, the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl features the nation's leading scoring defense (Ole Miss, 13.8 points per game) against the nation's second-leading scoring offense (TCU, 46.8 ppg).
"I can't remember a time this year that I didn't feel like the defense played well enough, if we did those other things, that we wouldn't have a chance," Freeze said. "So it's hard, you know, not to feel that way going into this game. I don't know that we've played a team that has the tempo and the athleticism at the skill positions. I'm not quite sure we have faced that exact combination yet, so that will be a great challenge for us."
The Rebels are led by senior cornerback Senquez Golson, the first consensus first team All-American and first unanimous choice since offensive tackle Michael Oher in 2008. Golson leads the SEC and ranks second nationally with nine interceptions.
The Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and fourth-place finisher for the Heisman Trophy, TCU junior quarterback Trevone Boykin ranks third nationally in total offense (363.0 ypg) and has helped key the nation's statistically most improved offense in both total yards and scoring from last season.
"We can anticipate to a certain point what's going to happen, but there is always room where we're going to have to adjust," senior safety Cody Prewitt said "That's what defense is all about. There is anticipation and then there's adjustment to that anticipation. The biggest thing is we're not going to be able to stop him. Our best chance is to contain him because he's so good at extending plays and finding big plays where not very many people can."
Offensively, Ole Miss will be without three starters due to injuries in junior offensive guard Aaron Morris, senior wide receiver Vince Sanders and sophomore wide receiver Laquon Treadwell.
Freshman offensive guard Rod Taylor will make his second career start, while junior wide receiver Cody Core, sophomore wide receiver Quincy Adeboyejo, freshman wide receiver Markell Pack and sophomore tight end Evan Engram will all step into bigger roles in the passing game.
"We're down a couple playmakers that we depended on this year, but we have guys like Cody Core and Markell Pack, who have had to step up, senior quarterback Bo Wallace said. "Evan, too. Hopefully he will play the way he did against Mississippi State, and we expect that because he's so explosive and he's a mismatch."
Already the school's all-time leader in total offense, Wallace has an opportunity to become the first Ole Miss quarterback to start and win three bowl games and become the winningest quarterback in modern Ole Miss history, but like his head coach, he has his sights set on the big picture.
A win over TCU (11-1) would give the Rebels their first 10-win season since 2003 and perhaps their first top-five final ranking since 1962, when they finished No. 3 in the nation, and it may also provide the program with a springboard heading into the 2015 season.
"It can put us at a new level," Wallace said. "It can have us preseason top-five and put these guys in a great spot to do great things because, honestly, next year it's a national title-type roster.
Ole Miss will be making its 36th bowl appearance, tied for 18th on the NCAA Division I list of all-time bowl berth. The Rebels are 23-12 in bowl games, with their .657 winning percentage second-best among all schools.
Ole Miss is 10-1 in its last 11 bowl games, including a current streak of six straight victories that is tied with Florida State for the best in the nation. The Rebels won their only other Peach Bowl appearance, defeating Georgia Tech in the 1971 game.
Ole Miss and TCU have met six times in their history, most recently in 1983. The Rebels hold a 5-1 advantage in the series, including wins in each of their two postseason meeting in the 1948 Delta Bowl and the 1956 Cotton Bowl.
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