When Penn State faces Ole Miss in this season’s Peach Bowl later this month, there will be quite the contrast in styles of play. While Ole Miss is a team built more on offensive production, Penn State’s bread and butter has been its defense this season. Even with the departure of defensive coordinator Manny Diaz from the Penn State staff and star defensive end Chop Robinson opting out ahead of the bowl game, Penn State’s defense figures to be a big challenge for the Ole Miss offense.
That’s the way Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin sees things. Kiffin spoke about the upcoming matchup with the Nittany Lions to the media on Tuesday afternoon as Ole Miss formally was invited and accepted its invitation to the Peach Bowl. Kiffin knows exactly what he is up against in the Peach Bowl.
“This will be a tremendous matchup for us against a great coach, great team with a lot of really good players,” Kiffin said on Tuesday, according to the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. “[Penn State has] been doing this for a while, and they’re at a level where we want to get to. So, this will be a great opportunity for us.”
Penn State owns the nation’s no. 1 total defense with just 223.3 yards per game allowed this year. The most yards given up in a game by Penn State were the 365 yards allowed at Ohio State. Penn State allowed just 53 yards of total offense to Michigan State in the regular season finale on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
Ole Miss will come into the Peach Bowl with the nation’s 15th-ranked offense with an average of 455.4 yards per game. The Rebels average 34.8 points per game. Penn State’s defense will be put to the test.
As for Penn State being where Kiffin wants Ole Miss to be defensively, there is some ground to make up. The Rebels rank 59th in total defense this season and 41st in scoring defense (Penn State ranks third).
Penn State faces Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl looking to make college football history on Saturday, Dec. 30.
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