Ole Miss brought home their first Sugar Bowl win since 1970 with an incredible win over Oklahoma State.
Dreams Do Come True
Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze has always dreamed about playing, and winning, in the Sugar Bowl. He said during his Sugar Bowl press conference, "Growing up in Mississippi, you always, you know, understood exactly what the Sugar Bowl meant and how fond it was of the Ole Miss people to be able to play in this game. So I guess you would say it was bred in my mind that taking Ole Miss to the Sugar Bowl was about as good as it could get...[it] is one of the pinnacles of coaching in the Southeastern Conference, and to be able to represent our great university in the first ever champions bowl in the New Year's Six is something that I will never forget."
This win will forever hold a special place with Freeze and the rest of the Ole Miss organization, including Archie Manning who was in attendance at tonight's game and was the reason the Rebels won the bowl game in 1970.
Rebels Offense Paves Way To Victory
The Ole Miss offense was incredible, racking up 554 total yards, 347 of those yards through the air. Chad Kelly threw four touchdowns and only one interception. That interception came during the Rebel's first drive of the game. After the one slip-up, the offense turned up the heat and never looked back.
Laquon Treadwell was accountable for three of the Ole Miss touchdowns. This included a 34-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter that put the Rebels up 17-3.
The Struggle For Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State got on the board first with a field goal but after that the offense was almost non-existent until they finally scored a touchdown with a minute left in the third quarter when J.W. Walsh replaced Mason Rudolph. Rudolph was sacked three times and had Ole Miss players in his face all night long. He only completed 18-of-31 of his attempted passes for a total of 179 yards.
When Walsh came in as the quarterback, he completed nine of his 14 pass attempts for 125 yards and two touchdowns. One can only wonder if this game would've been closer if the Cowboys would've put Walsh in earlier.
Oklahoma State's defense had a rough night as well. The Big 12 is known for its lack of defense due to such high tempo offenses. The fact that Oklahoma State had a difficult time stopping Ole Miss came as no surprise to most. When Ashton Lampkin made the interception at the beginning of the game it looked as though the Cowboys would be able to keep up, but soon enough Ole Miss ripped through and put up big points.
In the end, Ole Miss proved they were the better team on the field. This win could be a precursor for things to come for this Ole Miss football team.