Rebels ring in New Year with Sugar Bowl rout
By PATRICK OCHS
pochs@sunherald.com Twitter: PatrickOchs
NEW ORLEANS-- Ole Miss' players were reminded all week about how they were humiliated and demoralized a year ago.
The Peach Bowl didn't go as planned for the Rebels in a rare New Years Six bowl game.
No. 16 Ole Miss made No. 13 Oklahoma State feel its pain Friday.
Aided by a 23-point second quarter, the Rebels trounced the Cowboys 48-20 to claim the 82nd Sugar Bowl in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
Friday marked Ole Miss' first Sugar Bowl victory since 1970 and sixth overall.
"To end the year, winning the Magnolia Bowl, the Egg Bowl, and now the Sugar Bowl -- which was a bucket item for me -- it's really surreal," Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said.
Just how dominant was Ole Miss (10-3) in the second quarter?
Well, star left tackle Laremy Tunsil scored from 2 yards out as time expired.
The Rebels rolled to the right side and quarterback Chad Kelly threw back across the field to a wide open Tunsil behind the line of scrimmage. The 305-pound lineman could have high-stepped into the end zone if he chose to do so.
"I had a pretty good feel for what they would be in," Freeze said of the play call. "And I knew if we could get them in double-edge pressure man, that, you know, he would be unaccounted for."
Prior to that, junior receiver Laquon Treadwell caught a pair of touchdowns from Kelly for gains of 34 and 10 yards. He added a 14 yarder early in the fourth quarter to finish with six catches for 71 yards.
Treadwell also completed a 45-yard pass to running back Jordan Wilkins, which set up the receiver's 10-yard touchdown with a defender draped over him.
"Most importantly, they have a great defense," Treadwell said. "I think we just executed better and played at a higher intensity and jumped on them early. The pieces fell our way."
Wilkins added to the lopsided outcome mid-way through the third quarter when he ran virtually untouched 36 yards up the middle to push the Rebels' lead to 41-6.
With the exception of his first interception of 2016, which ended the Rebels' first drive of the game, Kelly was largely in control for the Rebels.
The junior completed 21 of 33 passes for 302 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed for 73 yards.
"We were really flying around," former Gulf Coast All-American Tony Bridges said. "I knew we couldn't be stopped."
Quarterbacks J.W. Walsh and Mason Rudolph combined to throw for 303 yards but were kept out of the end zone. Walsh found the end zone twice on runs of 2 and 8 yards, but the Cowboys (10-3) mustered just 63 yards on the ground as a team.
"I think anytime you get a throwing team like that, anytime you can stop the run for some reason it just shuts them down," Ole Miss defensive coordinator Dave Wommack said.
The Cowboys have now dropped all three of their meetings with the Rebels, falling in the 2004 and '10 Cotton Bowls.
Looking ahead
Ole Miss must now turn its attention to its high-profile junior class. Suspended defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche has already declared his intention for the NFL draft. Tunsil and Treadwell are expected to join him. Tight end Evan Engram, who caught six passes for 96 yards, said last month he plans to return for his senior season. Injured safety Tony Conner is expected to return as well.
Following the game, both Tunsil and Treadwell said they plan to take several days to think about their futures before making a definite decision.
"Go home. Let my thoughts and everything clear out and take my time with it," Treadwell said. "I just don't want to rush anything."
This story was originally published January 2, 2016 at 1:34 AM with the headline "Rebels ring in New Year with Sugar Bowl rout ."