By Bert Leeson

PENN STATE PEACH BOWL GUIDE

https://gopsusports.com/documents/2023/12/24/2023_Penn_State_Peach_Bowl_Guide.pdf

OLE MISS PEACH BOWL GUIDE

https://gopsusports.com/documents/2023/12/24/23OM_FBNotes_PeachBowl_Web.pdf

BIG TEN NOTES

https://gopsusports.com/documents/2023/12/24/Big_Ten_Bowl_Notes.pdf

ATLANTA, Ga. – No. 10 Penn State meets No. 11 Ole Miss in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Saturday, December 30. Kickoff is set for noon on ESPN at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

PEACH BOWL HISTORY: Penn State is set to play in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl for the first time in school history. The Peach Bowl is Penn State’s 16th different bowl game in 53 overall bowl appearances. The Peach Bowl is the ninth-oldest bowl game and is set for its 56th annual game on December 30.

SERIES HISTORY: The Nittany Lions face Ole Miss for the first time in school history. Ole Miss is Penn State’s 33rd different bowl opponent.

FASHANU EARNS CONSENSUS ALL-AMERICA HONORS: Junior offensive tackle Olumuyiwa Fashanu was named a first-team All-American by the Associated Press, AFCA, Sporting News and the Walter Camp Football Foundation, while earning second-team honors from the FWAA. By collecting first-team honors from at least three of the five NCAA-recognized outlets, Fashanu clinched consensus All-American status. He is Penn State’s 41st player (44th selection) to reach consensus All-American status and the first PSU offensive lineman since Jeff Hartings in 1995. He is Penn State’s 102nd First-Team All-American and one of 16 in the James Franklin era.

DEFENSE AMONG NATION’S BEST: The Nittany Lions finished the regular season leading the country in total defense (223.2), first downs allowed (151), yards per play (3.91), sacks per game (4.0) and total sacks (48). The 48 sacks are a school record. Penn State also ranks second in the nation  in rushing defense (69.7) and tackles for loss per game (8.4) and third in pass defense (153.6), scoring defense (11.4), total tackles for loss (101) and fumbles recovered (12). Abdul Carter, Adisa Isaac and Chop Robinson earned first-team honors to lead 13 All-Big Ten selections.

THE OPPOSITION: Ole Miss finished the regular season with a 10-2 overall record and a 6-2 mark in SEC play. The Rebels concluded November with a 17-7 win over Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl. Ole Miss rushed for 211 yards, including 119 yards and a touchdown by Quinshon Judkins. In the fourth quarter, Jaxson Dart connected on a 26-yard touchdown pass with Caden Prieskorn. Daijahn Anthony led the defense with 15 tackles (6 solo), while Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste added 10 stops.

BY THE NUMBERS:

• 223.2: Penn State leads the nation allowing just 223.2 total yards per game, the lowest in the FBS since Alabama in 2011.
• 48: Penn State has set a school record with 48 sacks this season, bettering 47 sacks in 2018, 1999, 1998 and 1979.
• 16: Penn State is playing in its 16th different bowl game and is set to play in its first ever Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
• 2nd: Olumuyiwa Fashanu became Penn State’s second ever Rimington-Pace Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year winner.

SCOUTING THE REBELS

• Lane Kiffin is in his fourth season at Ole Miss.
• He owns a 33-15 record at Ole Miss and a 94-49 career record.
• Kiffin has led the Rebels to bowl games in each of his first four seasons.
• Under Kiffin, Ole Miss played in the 2021 Outback Bowl (W, 26-20, vs. Indiana), 2022 Sugar Bowl (L, 7-21, vs. Baylor) and the 2022 Texas Bowl (L, 25-42, vs. Texas Tech).
• Ole Miss is 10-2 overall and 6-2 in the SEC this season.
• The Rebels earned SEC wins this season against LSU (55-49), Arkansas (27-20), Auburn (28-21), Vanderbilt (33-7), Texas A&M (38-35) and Mississippi State (17-7).
• Against Mississippi State, the Rebels tallied 307 total yards and 211 rushing yards.
• RB Quinshon Judkins rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown.
• Ole Miss ranks 19th in the country in scoring offense (34.8), 15th in total offense (455.4), 26th in passing offense (276.6) and 40th in rushing offense (178.8).
• The Rebels are also 12th in yards per completion (14.43) and 25th in completion percentage (65.2).
• Judkins is ninth in the country with 15 rushing touchdowns and 33rd with 1,052 rushing yards.
• On defense, Ole Miss sits 34th in the country in scoring defense (21.8), 57th in total defense (371.9), 60th in passing defense (220.0) and 67th in rushing defense (151.9).
• S Trey Washington paces Ole Miss with 75 tackles, while DE Jared Ivey leads the team with 9.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks.
• PR Jordan Watkins has one punt return touchdown this season.

PENN STATE EARNS 53RD BOWL BERTH

• Penn State is making its 53rd bowl appearance, tied-ninth all-time.
• Head Coach James Franklin has guided his teams to a bowl appearance 12 times (3 at Vanderbilt; 9 at Penn State).
• Penn State’s 31 bowl victories are tied-fourth nationally and lead all Big Ten schools.
• The Nittany Lions’ 61.5 winning percentage in bowl games (31-19-2 record) is No. 7 nationally among teams with at least 20 bowl appearances.
• Penn State is playing in its 16th different bowl game and has now played in each of the New Year’s Six bowls.
• Penn State made its first postseason appearance in 1923 when it traveled across the country to face USC in the Rose Bowl Game to cap off the 1922 season.

ABOUT THE PEACH BOWL

• Penn State will make its first ever appearance in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
• The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl will be Penn State’s 16th different bowl game in 53 appearances.
• Ole Miss is Penn State’s 33rd different bowl opponent.
• The Peach Bowl is the ninth-oldest bowl game and is set for its 56th game on December 30.
• The first Peach Bowl was played at Georgia Tech’s Grant Field in 1968 between Florida State and LSU.
• Three Peach Bowls were played at Grant Field until the game was moved to Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium from 1971-1992.
• From 1993-2016, the Peach Bowl was played at the Georgia Dome until moving into its current venue, Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
• Chick-fil-A became the bowl’s first and only title sponsor in 1996.
• From 2006-13, the game was called the Chick-fil-A Bowl until adding Peach back into the name in 2014.
• In 2013, the Peach Bowl was selected to be among the New Year’s Six bowls with the Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Rose and Sugar Bowls.
• The Peach Bowl hosted CFP Semifinals in 2016, 2019 and 2022.
• In 2009, the bowl partnered with the National Football Foundation to bring the College Football Hall of Fame to Atlanta.

PENN STATE IN DECEMBER BOWL GAMES

• Penn State will be playing the program’s 20th December bowl game and owns a 13-5-1 record in the month.
• This is Penn State’s fourth time playing on December 30 with a 2-0-1 record.
• In December 30 bowl games, Penn State won the 1961 Gator Bowl (30-15 vs. Georgia Tech), tied the 1967 Gator Bowl (17-17 vs. Florida State) and won the 2017 Fiesta Bowl (35-28 vs. Washington).

BIG TEN IN PEACH BOWL

• Penn State is making the Big Ten’s 11th appearance in the Peach Bowl.
• The Big Ten is 3-7 in previous appearances with wins by Purdue (1978), Iowa (1982) and Michigan State (2021).
• Indiana, Iowa and Purdue have each made two appearances, while Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State each have one.

BACK-TO-BACK 10 WIN SEASONS

• Penn State has reached 10 wins in a season for the 26th time in program history and 10 regular season wins for the 21st time in program history.
• The Nittany Lions at least won 10 games in back-to-back seasons for the 12th time in program history.
• With its win over Michigan State, the Nittany Lions clinched their second-straight 10+ win season.
• Penn State joins Alabama, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Ohio, Ohio State, Oregon, Troy, Tulane and Washington as teams who have posted 10+ win seasons in 2022 and 2023.
• The Nittany Lions reached 10 wins for the fifth time since 2016.
• Penn State is one of 11 FBS teams with at least 10 wins in at least five of the last eight seasons, joining Alabama (8), Boise State (6), Clemson (7), Georgia (6), Michigan (6), Notre Dame (5), Ohio State (7), Oklahoma (6), Troy (5) and Washington (5).

ALL-AMERICA HONORS

• Junior OL Olumuyiwa Fashanu was a consensus All-American, earning first-team honors by the Associated Press, AFCA, Sporting News and the Walter Camp Football Foundation.
• He was also a first-team selection by The Athletic, CBS Sports, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.
• He was a second-team All-America selection by the FWAA.
• Fashanu is PSU’s 44th consensus All-American selection (41st player) and the first offensive lineman since Jeff Hartings (1995).
• Junior DE Chop Robinson was selected a second-team All-American by Pro Football Focus and USA Today and a third-team All-American by the Associated Press.
• Sophomore LB Abdul Carter was voted a second-team All-American by Sports Illustrated.
• Redshirt senior PR Daequan Hardy was named a second-team All-American by CBS Sports.

COURTESY PENN STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS