Postgame Notes: Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl

SERIES INFORMATION

• This was the first meeting all-time between Ole Miss and Penn State.
• Ole Miss is now 4-4 all-time against current Big Ten schools, including 3-1 in bowl games.

BOWL HISTORY

• This was Ole Miss' 41st bowl appearance in program history, and its third bid to the Peach Bowl … The Rebels are now 2-1 all-time in the Peach Bowl alongside appearances in 1971 (vs. Georgia Tech, W, 41-18) and 2014 (vs. TCU, L, 42-3).
• Ole Miss' all-time bowl record now stands at 25-15, excluding a vacated victory in the 2013 BBVA Compass Bowl.
• Today marked Ole Miss' fourth New Year's Six bowl appearance, which ranks third in the SEC behind Alabama (9) and Georgia (7), as well as tied for eighth nationally.
• At a .625 bowl winning percentage, Ole Miss is now tied for fifth with Alabama and USC in FBS history.
• At 41 bowl appearances, Ole Miss ranks tied for 20th in FBS history, and now at 25 wins, the Rebels rank tied for 13th all-time.

CAPTAINS

• JJ Pegues (DT), Ulysses Bentley IV (RB), Tre Harris (WR)

STARTERS

• RG Jeremy James made his 49th consecutive start, also the 49th start of his career ... Other double-digit streaks included CB Deantre Prince (28), QB Jaxson Dart (24), OL Caleb Warren (22), RB Quinshon Judkins (19), S Trey Washington (15), OL Victor Curne (13), OL Quincy McGee (13), S John Saunders Jr. (13) and WR Dayton Wade (13).
• With his 49th start today, James tied former DL Marcus Tillman (2006-09) for the all-time Ole Miss career record in games started.
• True freshman WR Cayden Lee made the first career start of his career.
• Rebels with 30 or more career starts who also started today include James (49), Warren (44) and Prince (36).

GENERAL NOTES

• Attendance for today's game was 71,230.
• At 11-2, this marks the first 11-win campaign in the 129-season history of Ole Miss football.
• Ole Miss is now 2-2 in bowl games under head coach Lane Kiffin, who is now 3-5 all-time in bowl games.
• Today's win marks the second New Year's Six victory in Ole Miss history alongside a 48-20 win in the 2016 Sugar Bowl over Oklahoma State.
• Ole Miss is now 65-17 (.793) versus non-conference opponents dating back to a 38-0 win over Tulane on Nov. 12, 1994.
• Under head coach Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss is now 15-2 / 14-3 against non-conference opponents.

• Ole Miss finished the season 9-1 when leading at half.

OFFENSIVE NOTES

• The Ole Miss offense picked apart the nation's top defense, recording the most points (38), passing yards (394) and total yards (540) Penn State has allowed this season.
• QB Jaxson Dart completed 25-of-40 passes for an Ole Miss bowl record 379 yards, two passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown … Dart is tied for fourth on the Ole Miss single-season list in 300-yard passing games with five (Shea Patterson, 2017) … Dart is one of just five Ole Miss QBs to throw for 20+ touchdowns in multiple seasons (Matt Corral, Eli Manning, Jevan Snead, Bo Wallace).
• Dart finished the season with 3,364 passing yards and 22 passing touchdowns on 233-of-358 attempts with only five interceptions … In yards, Dart's 2023 season ranks fifth in Ole Miss history.
• Dart ties the school record in fewest interceptions in a season, becoming the third Rebel QB ever to throw just five interceptions with at least 200 pass attempts (Matt Corral, 2021; John Fourcade, 1981).
• Dart caught his first career reception on a fourth down draw up for a gain of 15 yards. WR Jordan Watkins also earned his second career pass and completion on the play.
• TE Caden Prieskorn had a career day, hauling in a career-high of 136 yards on an Ole Miss bowl record 10 receptions on 11 targets with two receiving touchdowns … This is Prieskorn's second career multi-touchdown game, first as a Rebel … Prieskorn's performance earned him offensive MVP of the 2023 Peach Bowl.
• His 37-yard touchdown reception marks his longest reception in an Ole Miss uniform.
• WR Tre Harris finished with 134 yards on seven receptions … Harris now has 2,502 receiving yards in his overall career.
• Prieskorn and Harris became the third and fourth players to top 100 receiving yards against Penn State this season, joining Ohio State's Marvin Harrison Jr. and Indiana's Dequece Carter.
• RB Quinshon Judkins ran for 106 yards on 34 attempts and a receiving touchdown … Judkins ties Deuce McAllister for the Ole Miss all-time record in career 100-yard games and moves to third all-time in Ole Miss history with 2,725 career rushing yards … Judkins tied his own all-purpose single-season TD record (17) and moved into sole possession of second all-time at 34 career all-purpose TDs.
• Judkins is one of two players to rush more than 100 yards against Penn State this season alongside Michigan's Blake Corum (145).
• WR Dayton Wade recorded his 10th reception of at least 30+ yards this year, tying him for 16th in FBS.
• WR Cayden Lee brought down a career-high of three receptions for 29 yards.

DEFENSIVE NOTES

• DE Jared Ivey recorded his second career pass breakup, his first as a Rebel. Ivey finished with five total tackles, two tackles for loss, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery. Ivey's performance earned him defensive MVP for the 2023 Peach Bowl.
• S Trey Washington brought down eight solo tackles, leading the Ole Miss defense.
• S Daijahn Anthony intercepted his third pass of the season, his career season-best. Anthony has eight interceptions for his career.
• DT Akelo Stone recorded Ole Miss' lone sack of the day, a sack fumble for a loss of two yards. This was Stone's third sack of the season, the fifth sack of his career.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES

• K Caden Davis went 3-for-3 on field goals for the day, tying his career-high of made field goals in a single game, with a long field goal of 52, bringing him to 18-of-23 on the season and 19-of-27 in his career … Davis is tied for sixth on the Ole Miss single-season list for made field goals.
• P Fraser Masin punted five times for 216 yards and an average of 43.2 yards with a long punt of 51 yards and two punts inside the 20.
• The Rebels recorded their second successful two-point conversion in Ole Miss bowl history, the first since the 2000 Music City Bowl.
• DT Zxavian Harris recorded his third field goal block of the season and the fourth of his career.

RebelsCalendar

Players Mentioned

Daijahn Anthony

Ulysses Bentley IV

Victor Curne

Jaxson Dart

Caden Davis

Tre Harris

Zxavian Harris

Jared Ivey

Jeremy James

Quinshon Judkins

Cayden Lee

Fraser Masin

Quincy McGee

JJ Pegues

Caden Prieskorn

Deantre Prince

John Saunders Jr.

Akelo Stone

Dayton Wade

Caleb Warren

Trey Washington

Jordan Watkins

The University of Mississippi Athletics