No. 10 Penn State Football and No. 11 Ole Miss are set to square off in the 2023 Peach Bowl, which has the potential to be one of the most fascinating matchups of the entire college football Bowl Season.
In a game that pits one of the nation’s highest-ranked defenses against an uptempo and explosive offense, the Nittany Lions will need to take care of several key matchups in order to take home a second consecutive New Year’s Six Bowl victory.
To get a better view about Penn State’s opponent in the Peach Bowl, We went behind Enemy Lines with Evie Van Pelt who covers Ole Miss for The Rebel Walk.
Behind Enemy Lines – Penn State Football vs. Ole Miss Preview
NittanyCentral: Your Initial thoughts on Penn State vs Ole Miss in Peach Bowl
Evie Van Pelt: I think this looks to be one of the best bowl games because it features such a great matchup with the explosive Ole Miss offense vs. the top-ranked Penn State defense. In Thursday’s press conference, Coach Poindexter and the defensive players commented a number of times on the tempo offense Ole Miss runs and their plans to counter that. I think watching strength vs. strength will be enjoyable.
NC: Who on Offense should Penn State be concerned about?
Van Pelt: I think the Ole Miss receiving corps is something to watch. The Rebels have three wide receivers – Tre Harris, Jordan Watkins and Dayton Wade – who have all amassed over 700 yards each (Harris over 800) receiving this season. Also, keep an eye out on running back Quinshon Judkins as a lot of the offense opens up when he has success.
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NC: Were there any opponents that Ole Miss faced this season had similarities of Penn State?
Van Pelt: The size of Drew Allar reminds me of Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson. Just a huge physical presence that is tough to bring down. The Penn State running game reminds me of Georgia Tech’s. Also, the use of tight ends brings back (not good) memories of the Georgia game as they were in 12 personnel most of the time.
NC: For those who don’t follow Ole Miss, what makes this matchup very interesting
Van Pelt: I think I have to go back to the Ole Miss offense vs. Penn State defense matchup.
Penn State Football leads the nation in sacks, and the Ole Miss offensive line is down a man since right tackle Micah Pettus is out with injury. For the Rebels to be successful, they’ll need to successfully run their tempo game. They can go incredibly fast, running a play on average every 22.9 seconds.
How well Penn State handles that will be interesting. Their players and Coach Poindexter sure seemed cognizant of it.
NC: What is one reason why Ole Miss takes down Penn State in Peach Bowl?
Van Pelt: One reason Ole Miss takes down Penn State is the Ole Miss running back duo of Quinshon Judkins and Ulysses Bentley IV. If Rebel RB Quinshon Judkins rushes for over 100 yards, above Penn State’s average allowed of approximately 67 per game, it would bode well for Ole Miss.
MORE: These 6 Penn State Players Have Most to Gain in Peach Bowl
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