Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl

No. 11 Ole Miss (10-2) vs. No. 10 Penn State (10-2)

11 a.m. CST Saturday (ESPN)

Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta

0 Ole Miss teams have won 11 games in a season, which the Rebels would accomplish for the first time with a victory over Penn State. The 2023 squad is Ole Miss’ ninth with 10 victories. Seven of those teams won a bowl to reach 10 victories. In 2021, Ole Miss missed its opportunity to reach 11 victories when the Rebels lost to Baylor 21-7 in the Sugar Bowl.

0 Previous football games between Ole Miss and Penn State.

1 Ole Miss player has scored more rushing TDs in a single season than RB Quinshon Judkins has in 2023 – Quinshon Judkins. Judkins’ 15 rushing TDs this season trail only the 16 that he scored last season on the Rebels’ single-season list. Judkins leads the SEC in rushing TDs this season.

1 Interception has been thrown by Penn State QB Drew Allar this season. No other player in the nation has thrown as many passes as Allar with so few interceptions. Allar has completed 214-of-350 passes for 2,336 yards with 23 TDs. The next player with one interception had 152 passes.

1 Consensus All-American in Saturday’s game – Penn State OT Olumuyiwa Fashanu. The Nittany Lions left tackle won the Big Ten Rimington-Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year Award for 2023.

1 Fumble has been lost by Ole Miss this season, tied with Northwestern for the fewest in the nation. Penn State has recovered 12 of its opponents’ fumbles, the fifth-most in the nation. Ole Miss has recovered nine of its 10 fumbles in 2023. Penn State has recovered 12 of its opponents’ 19 fumbles this season.

2 Victories and one loss against Ole Miss for Penn State coach James Franklin while he was the coach at Vanderbilt. The Commodores defeated the Rebels 30-7 in 2011 and 27-26 in 2012 before a 39-35 loss in 2013. Franklin went to Penn State from Vanderbilt.

4 Consecutive bowl losses for Penn State when matched against an SEC opponent. Since defeating LSU 19-17 in the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1, 2010, the Nittany Lions have lost to Florida 37-24 in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1, 2011, Georgia 24-17 in the TaxSlayer Bowl on Jan. 2, 2016, Kentucky 27-24 in the Citrus Bowl on Jan. 1, 2019, and Arkansas 24-10 in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1, 2022. Penn State has a 10-9 record against SEC opponents in bowls, part of an overall 18-22 mark against the conference.

5 Previous games against Big Ten (and its ancestral conferences) for Ole Miss. The Rebels’ only victory came in their most recent matchup against the conference – a 26-20 win over Indiana in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 2, 2021. Ole Miss has one other bowl meeting with a Big Ten opponent – a 35-3 loss to Michigan in the Gator Bowl on Jan. 1, 1991. None of the other matchups came in the past 90 years. Ole Miss lost to Minnesota 26-0 on Nov. 5, 1932, tied Chicago 0-0 on Oct. 25, 1930, and lost to Purdue 27-7 on Nov. 9, 1929.

11 Rushing yards are needed by QB Jaxson Dart to become the third Ole Miss player with 5,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards. John Fourcade had 5,412 passing yards and 1,301 rushing yards from 1978 through 1981 and Matt Corral had 8,287 passing yards and 1,338 rushing yards from 2018 through 2021 for Ole Miss. In his second season with the Rebels, Dart has 5,959 passing yards and 989 rushing yards.

15 Passing yards are needed by QB Jaxson Dart to become the sixth Ole Miss player with 3,000 in a season. Dart has completed 208-of-318 passes for 2,985 yards with 20 TDs and five interceptions in 2023. Chad Kelly set the Ole Miss single-season record with 4,042 passing yards in 2015. Other Ole Miss players with 3,000 passing yards in a season are Eli Manning in 2002 and 2003, Bo Wallace in 2013 and 2014, Jordan Ta’amu in 2018 and Matt Corral in 2020 and 2021.

17 Consecutive Penn State opponents have failed to reach 25 points. The Nittany Lions have the nation’s longest current streak (by four games) for holding opponents to 24 or fewer points. The most recent Penn State game with more than 24 points for the opponent came on Oct 29, 2022, when the Nittany Lions lost to Ohio State 44-31. Ole Miss scored at least 25 points in nine of its games this season.

18 More takeaways than turnovers for Penn State this season, the biggest margin in the nation. The Nittany Lions have recovered 12 of their opponents’ fumbles and intercepted 12 passes while losing five fumbles and one interception in 2023. Ole Miss has a turnover margin of plus-9. The Rebels have recovered four of their opponents’ fumbles and intercepted 12 passes while losing one fumble and six interceptions.

22 Victories, 16 losses and one tie for SEC teams in the Peach Bowl. The Big Ten has a 3-7 record in the Peach Bowl. The Big Ten has one victory in five Peach Bowl matchups with SEC opponents. Iowa defeated Tennessee 28-22 on Dec. 31, 1982. Georgia defeated Ohio State 42-41 in last season’s game. Before that, Tennessee defeated Indiana 27-22 on Jan. 2, 1988, Auburn defeated Indiana 27-23 on Dec. 29, 1990, and Florida defeated Michigan 41-15 on Dec. 29, 2018.

25 Victories and 16 losses in bowls for Ole Miss, which has lost its past two postseason outings, falling to Baylor 21-7 in Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 2022, and Texas Tech 42-25 in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 28, 2022. Ole Miss has never lost three consecutive bowl appearances. The Rebels are in the Peach Bowl for the third time after beating Georgia Tech 41-18 on Dec. 30, 1971, and falling to TCU 42-3 on Dec. 31, 2014.

31 Victories, 19 losses and two ties in bowls for Penn State, which is playing in the Peach Bowl for the first time.

48 Sacks have been recorded by the Penn State defense this season, the most in the nation. Ole Miss QBs have been sacked 26 times in 2023.

48 Starts have been made by Ole Miss G Jeremy James, one short of the Rebels’ career record established by DL Marcus Tillman from 2006 through 2009.

836 Rushing yards have been yielded by the Penn State defense this season, the fewest in the nation. The Nittany Lions’ opponents have averaged a national-low of 2.16 yards per rushing attempt. The Ole Miss offense has averaged 178.8 rushing yards per game and 4.40 yards per rushing attempt, led by RB Quinshon Judkins, the school’s third player with two 1,000-yard seasons. Judkins has 1,052 yards and 15 TDs on 237 in 2023 after running for 1,565 yards and 16 TDs on 274 carries last season. Kayo Dottley in 1949 and 1950, and BenJarvus Green-Ellis in 2006 and 2007 also recorded two 1,000-yard rushing seasons for Ole Miss.

2,679 Yards have been yielded by the Penn State defense this season, the fewest in the nation. The Ole Miss offense has gained more than twice that many yards this season with 5,465. The Nittany Lions’ opponents have averaged a national-low of 3.91 yards per play. The Ole Miss offense has averaged 6.50 yards per play in 2023.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.