On a New Year's Day rife with blowouts, Ole Miss delivered maybe the most fun win of the New Year, a 48-20 triumph over Oklahoma State in the Rebels' first Sugar Bowl appearance in nearly half a century.
Ole Miss vs. Oklahoma State final score, plus 3 things to know from the Rebels’ 48-20 Sugar Bowl win
Ole Miss was excited to play in New Orleans, and it showed.
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Chad Kelly threw for 302 yards and four touchdowns, three to Laquon Treadwell, and ran for 73 more yards in leading Ole Miss to the program's first Sugar Bowl triumph since the days of Archie Manning.
Oklahoma State couldn’t get anything going on the ground early, failing to get into positive rushing yardage for good until the second half, and didn’t have anyone to threaten the Rebels outside.
As soon as Ole Miss went up by four scores on a throwback screen to Laremy Tunsil that Kelly called “Laremy, Go Score” and Hugh Freeze dubbed “Pop The Collar” just prior to halftime, the outcome of this game was totally set.
Three things to know
1. Motivation matters! Ole Miss has a long history with New Orleans and the Sugar Bowl, but hadn’t been selected to play in the game in about two generations. Clearly, the Rebels wanted to be here, unlike so many other bowl teams, and they played like it.
The Rebels also avenged last year's embarrassment in the Peach Bowl, piling on the Cowboys to almost the same effect that TCU piled on the Rebels in 2014. That game ended 42-3, and this one wasn't quite so lopsided, but both Ole Miss tonight and TCU that evening had 28-point halftime leads.
2. Laquon Treadwell is amazing. The Rebels’ star didn’t pile up the yardage, and had “just” six catches on the night. But he had an effortless one-hander, threw a fine pass on a trick play, and generally appeared to be unguardable when he wanted to be. Don’t be surprised if he’s a major star in the NFL.
3. Ole Miss is still rising. The Rebels' boatload of future NFL talent had many observers projecting them as potential College Football Playoff participants, and while they didn't quite go that far thanks to injuries and suspensions, they sure did look great at their peak, knocking off Alabama early and defeating four other ranked teams.
That's a bit bittersweet, given that Treadwell, Tunsil, and Robert Nkemdiche are all clearly Sunday-bound and the best thing that the Rebels have to show for it is a Sugar Bowl in a year when they could well be the only team to have beaten the national champions. But for a program that had been mired in mediocrity when Freeze arrived, the ceiling's now much higher than it once was.
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