Tag: 2023 Peach Bowl

James Franklin takes aim at officials after Peach Bowl loss

No, the refs were not to blame for Penn State’s loss in the Peach Bowl. But James Franklin said they didn’t help the cause.

Penn State head coach James Franklin was searching for answers after the Nittany Lions were humbled by Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl. Despite being favored in the game, Penn State saw the game fall out of their reach with a disappointing second-half performance in a 38-25 loss to Ole Miss on Saturday afternoon.

Franklin had a pretty fair assessment for one of Penn State’s biggest problems in the game, and it had to do with roster and coaching staff adjustments for the Peach Bowl.

“Just too many moving parts with the staff and with the players against a good team,” Franklin said in his postgame press conference in Atlanta. “Too many moving parts, staff and players, to have the type of success that we wanted to have today. I won’t get into all the details.”

Franklin was clearly referring to the departure of defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, who became the head coach at Duke, and the ongoing adjustments being made with the offensive coordination position following a late-season change removing Mike Yurcich from the staff. Both of those coordinator roles have been filled for next season, but neither Tom Allen (defensive coordinator) or Andy Kotelnicki (offensive coordinator) took part in the game preparation and playcalling on Saturday.

Penn State was also without some key players due to optouts by defensive end [autotag]Chop Robinson[/autotag] and the late decisions for offensive lineman [autotag]Olu Fashanu[/autotag] and defensive backs [autotag]Kalen King[/autotag] and [autotag]Johnny Dixon[/autotag]. In contrast, Ole Miss was with just one opt-out to deal with.

But Franklin also seemed to take issue with the officiating in the game, including right from the start of the game.

“I thought the officiating was less than desirable. That first drive, we have the field goal, we run a slant, (a receiver gets) turned around, but I’ll move on,” Franklin said, before immediately failing to move one.

“I could list out a number of examples. That’s a big play in that game at a critical moment, starting out with a touchdown rather than a field goal is significant,” Franklin added. “But I’ll move on.”

For what it is worth, Penn State was called for 6 penalties for 50 yards in the game. Ole Miss was flagged five times for 25 yards in the game.

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Social media reacts to Penn State’s dreadful Peach Bowl loss to Ole Miss

Social media reacts to Penn State’s Peach bowl loss to Ole Miss

Penn State’s offense has been under fire for pretty much the whole 2023 season, and the unit’s performance in the Peach Bowl against Ole Miss was much of the same. Lackluster, uninspiring, one-dimensional, un-explosive, or whatever word you want to describe it surfaced Saturday afternoon in the 38-25 loss to the Rebels. The Nittany Lions finished the season 10-3 and will go into next season with a lot of questions surrounding their offense and what it will look like.

The offseason should be an interesting one, with Penn State in dire need of offensive upgrades, especially in the receiver department. There are pieces to build around, like Kaytron Allen, Nick Singleton, and perhaps Harrison Wallace III, but that’s a conversation for another time. Social media is a here-and-now atmosphere, and it sure didn’t miss on Penn State’s dud performance in the Peach Bowl centered around another anemic passing performance, Drew Allar, and the Penn State offense.

5 takeaways from Penn State’s brutal loss to Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl

5 takeaways from Penn State’s brutal loss to Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl

It was a day to forget for the Nittany Lions, who came to Atlanta looking for a statement win, but it turned into a statement 38-25 loss to the Ole Miss Rebels. It was a struggle in all phases for Penn State, who couldn’t stop the run, the pass, and even had a fourth-quarter field goal attempt blocked.

Despite starting the game with a positive field goal drive and a few good runs, the offense never got into a rhythm. [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] and the passing game struggled mightily, only hitting on a big play on a fluke-tipped pass to Tyler Warren for 75 yards, which ironically ended up being Penn State’s longest play of the season.

The defense, missing its top two corners and best edge defender, was no match for the up-tempo explosive offensive that is the Rebels. Ole Miss had its way running and throwing the football, dicing up the Penn State secondary every which way.

It will be interesting to see how the Nittany Lions rebound from a now 3 loss season. All three losses will have happened against top-11 opponents where the Penn State offense looked absolutely anemic. No matter the fallout, Drew Allar and new offensive coordinator [autotag]Andy Kotelnicki[/autotag] will have an enormous amount of pressure on themselves to improve the offense going into next year.

After an all-around pathetic performance, here are five takeaways from Penn State’s Peach Bowl loss to Ole Miss.

Report Card: Grading Penn State’s Peach Bowl loss to Ole Miss

What word would you use to describe Penn State’s performance against Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl? Painful? Torture? Redundant? Whatever word you would choose to describe Penn State’s 38-25 loss in the Peach Bowl, it likely is not a positive one. A …

What word would you use to describe Penn State’s performance against Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl? Painful? Torture? Redundant? Whatever word you would choose to describe Penn State’s 38-25 loss in the Peach Bowl, it likely is not a positive one. A loss like the one Penn State suffered in the bowl game down south is one that leads to more questions and pressure going into the offseason than a program like Penn State wants to deal with this time of the year.

But final assessments must be made, and the final grades from Penn State’s loss in the Peach Bowl tell a bit of the story of the 2023 Penn State football season as a whole. The offense lacked explosiveness, the coaching failed to fix the offense, and the defense couldn’t keep the game from falling out of reach long enough for the offense to catch up in time.

Sure, a 10-win season is something the large majority of college football programs would love to have at the end of the year, even if it did come with a loss in a bowl game at the end, but this was not what Penn State thought they were planning on doing this season.

And yet, once again, here we are.

Here is a look at Penn State’s final postgame report card for the 2023 season following the Peach Bowl.

Peach Bowl dud ends Penn State’s season with 38-25 loss to Ole Miss

Penn State’s frustrating season ended with a blowout loss to Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl.

A year after celebrating a bowl victory in a shower of rose petals, Penn State’s end to the 2023 season was anything but peachy. Penn State was dominated by Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl and ended the year with a stinker in a 38-25 loss in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Saturday afternoon. The Nittany Lions defense was shredded by Ole Miss, which took advantage of favorable matchups in the passing game all afternoon in Atlanta.

Penn State struck first with a field goal by [autotag]Alex Felkins[/autotag] from 26 yards on their first offensive series of the game. That came after the defense forced a quick three-and-out against the Ole Miss defense to start the game, which led to Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart heading to the medical tent at the end of the brief possession.

Penn State may have caught some breaks on the ensuing Ole Miss possession. After the Rebels entered the red zone, officials blew dead what could have been a live ball for an Ole Miss touchdown due to a whistle for an offside penalty on Penn State. The Rebels had to settle for a field goal after officials missed another potential penalty on Penn State on the following snap.

Both teams scored twice in the second quarter with Penn State scoring a pair of touchdowns with a touchdown pass from [autotag]Beau Pribula[/autotag] to [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag] and a [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] pass to [autotag]Theo Johnson[/autotag]. But the half ended with Penn State trailing by a score of 20-17 after giving up 340 yards of offense to the Rebels. And of the 115 passing yards Allar had at the half, 75 of them came on one play at the end of the first quarter when [autotag]Tyler Warren[/autotag] caught a pass and ran for a big gain.

Dart had gotten in a rhythm with his passing and gashed a Penn State defense playing without its top two defensive backs and top defensive end, and a defense that took some injuries at linebacker in the first half to [autotag]Kobe King[/autotag] and [autotag]Abdul Carter[/autotag]. Dart connected six times in the first half with tight end Caden Prieskorn, twice for a touchdown and three times for a first down, and five times with star wide receiver Tre Harris, each time for a first down.

The third quarter was a disaster for Penn State. The offense went three-and-out on all three third-quarter possessions. Meanwhile, the Rebels just continued to take advantage of its tempo to leave the Penn State defense scrambling and unable to catch up. Ole Miss added 10 points to its halftime lead and took a 31-17 lead into the fourth quarter. At that point, the game was all but decided as Penn State’s threat of a comeback was thwarted with a blocked field goal that led to an Ole Miss touchdown run by Dart to put the game well out of reach at 38-17. A late touchdown pass from Allar to [autotag]Harrison Wallace III[/autotag] cut into the Ole Miss lead, but was too little, too late.

Penn State played the Peach Bowl without some key players who opted out of the game with an eye toward their NFL futures. Penn State was without offensive lineman [autotag]Olu Fashanu[/autotag], defensive end [autotag]Chop Robinson[/autotag], and cornerback [autotag]Kalen King[/autotag]. All three could be potential first-round draft picks in the 2024 NFL draft. Penn State was also without [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag], who left his position as defensive coordinator to become the head coach at Duke. The defense looked disorganized, which should have been expected given the absences from what was rated one of the top defensive units of the season. But the offensive struggles were nothing new for the roster, and there was no evidence of finding ways to change things up in the bowl game.

Penn State will now look forward to the 2024 college football season, which will be quite an interesting year for the Big Ten and the entire college football landscape. Penn State will open the 2024 season on the road at West Virginia on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. The Big Ten will also welcome four new members in Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington, and Penn State will face each of them except for Oregon. The College Football Playoff will also expand to 12 teams next season, making it easier than ever for the Nittany Lions to get into the playoff mix in the playoff era. Well, if they can patch up the offense at all between now and next fall.

Penn State’s spring game, the Blue-White Game, is scheduled for Saturday, April 13, 2024.

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Did an Ole Miss staff member create fake Twitter account to create bulletin board material?

It appears an Ole Miss staff member created a fake Penn State football fan account on Twitter to generate some bulletin board material for the Rebels.

How desperate does one have to be to come up with motivational tactics for a bowl game? In the case of at least one member of the Ole Miss football program, it seems creating a fake social media account was necessary.

Fisher Ray, an offensive assistant for the Ole Miss football program, allegedly created a fake Penn State football fan account on X, formerly known as Twitter, to post some bulletin board material singling out a couple of players on the Ole Miss roster. Worst yet, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin reshared the post on his account, either blindly resharing content he comes across without thinking or knowingly feeding into the attempt to drum up some fake motivation for his team as they prepare to play Penn State.

Unfortunately, it did not take long for internet users to dig into the origin of the so-called fan account, and all signs pointed directly back to the Ole Miss staff.

Oops.

We’ll see if this bizarre tactic paid off for Ole Miss or backfired.

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Olu Fashanu ruled out for Peach Bowl

Penn State offensive lineman Olu Fashanu ruled out for Peach Bowl as he takes next step toward the NFL.

Penn State’s top NFL draft prospect, offensive lineman Olu Fashanu, has been ruled out of Saturday afternoon’s Peach Bowl against Ole Miss. Fashanu has reportedly opted out of the bowl game, bringing his collegiate career to an end as he takes the next step forward of playing in the NFL.

Fashanu declared early for the 2024 NFL draft leading up to the Peach Bowl but did not confirm his plans for the Peach Bowl. Fashanu went through practices leading up to the game and traveled with the team to Atlanta, and he is on field for pregame warmups with his teammates, but he was officially listed as out on Penn State’s player availability report, which is mandated by the Big Ten hours before kickoff of a game.

Fashanu is considered a first-round draft pick and could go in the top 10 of the 2024 NFL draft according to various draft experts and mock drafts. His absence from the offensive line is not totally unexpected for the Nittany Lions, as it was likely he would not play considering his potential draft outlook.

Penn State will also be without top cornerback Kalen King, who could also be going off to the NFL. Johnny Dixon was also a notable name included on Penn State’s list of players ruled out for the Peach Bowl.

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5 keys to a Penn State victory over Ole Miss the Peach Bowl

5 keys for a Penn State victory in the Peach Bowl against Ole Miss

It’s been about a month since Penn State took care of business on Black Friday against Michigan State in their last regular season game. We are now less than a day away from the Nittany Lions taking on No. 11 Ole Miss Rebels in the 56th annual Peach Bowl.

Penn State is seeking its 11 win of the season, and it won’t be an easy task. Ole Miss has improved from an 8-5 finish last year and, with a win against LSU, had a resurgent season, going 10-2 and finishing in the top-5 of the SEC. The Nittany Lions and the Rebels have never faced one another, and Ole Miss is the last remaining SEC school Penn State has yet to face. Historically, Penn State has a .500 record against the rest of the SEC, including Texas and Oklahoma.

Both teams and programs are pretty different from each other, but both have ended up in Atlanta, with one team going home with a statement win for next season and the other with three losses. Here are five keys to a Nittany Lion win on Saturday against the Rebels.

Expert predictions for Peach Bowl between Penn State and Ole Miss

Experts predict the outcome of the 2023 Peach Bowl between Penn State and Ole Miss.

No. 11 Ole Miss and No. 10 Penn State are all set to face off in the Peach Bowl, one of the New Year’s Six bowl matchups and the first-ever meeting between the two programs. The Nittany Lions offer up one of the best defenses in the nation, while the Rebels own one of the most explosive units in the game. Both teams have proven to be among the best in the country, and the predictions corroborate that.

Experts from across the nation have tried their hand at guessing the outcome of this game, and with Penn State being a 4.5-point favorite according to BetMGM, most experts seem to predict that the game is within that range.

A win for Penn State would make them the first program in college football history to win all six New Year’s Six bowls at least once. On the other hand, Ole Miss is looking to turn its momentum from a dominant December in the recruiting world into a NY6 bowl win to propel them into next season.

Before looking ahead to next season, though, the Peach Bowl must come first. A battle between two 10-2 teams, despite their different styles, who seem to have finished the year as the defacto third-best team in their respective conferences.

Here are the current projections for the Peach Bowl from writers, reports, analysts, and experts.

5 defensive keys for Penn State’s Peach Bowl matchup against Ole Miss

5 defensive keys for Penn State as they look to slow down Ole Miss potent offense in Saturday’s Peach Bowl

Penn State versus Ole Miss this Saturday in the Peach Bowl will be a showcase of two teams with drastically different playstyles. The Rebels are an explosive unit that averages 14.43 yards per completion, a staggering number by all accounts. The Nittany Lion defense only gives up 3.9 yards per play, an equally impressive number.

Two strengths going at each other should be fun to watch. Can Jaxson Dart and the Ole Miss passing attack continue its dominant downfield game, or will Penn State’s defense, with multiple future NFL players leading its secondary, prove too much to overcome? And don’t forget the Rebels run the ball with a head-down mentality as well. Tune in on Saturday at noon on ESPN to watch these two units go head to head. It is guaranteed to be a sight.

Now, both units can make life more challenging for one another, and both coaching staffs will try to add multiple wrinkles to make life even more difficult. Let’s take a look at five keys the Penn State defense must try and do in order to defeat Ole Miss and capture another New Year’s Six bowl victory.