The Peach Bowl is the only New Year’s Six bowl that Penn State hasn’t already won at some point in its history. The Nittany Lions are favored to complete the NY6 gauntlet against Ole Miss in this year’s Peach Bowl.
Making a New Year’s Six bowl is a big accomplishment for most programs, but both Penn State and Ole Miss probably feel like they’ve been bumping up against a ceiling. This is the Nittany Lions’ fifth appearance in an NY6 bowl in the 10 years since the formation of the four-team College Football Playoff. They’ve never made the CFP. Ole Miss is making its fourth NY6 bowl appearance and also has never made the CFP. There are tons of programs around the country that would love to have that level of success, but it means both teams have been in the very good, but not good enough level with some consistency.
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That also sums up this year’s season for both the Nittany Lions and Rebels. Both finished 10-2 and were not particularly close in losing to two national title contenders. Penn State won by multiple scores in all 10 of its wins, but did not appear functional on offense in losses to Ohio State (20-12) and Michigan (24-15). Ole Miss had more close calls in its wins, but also had offensive struggles in losses at Alabama (24-10) and Georgia (52-17).
While these teams could be the Spider-man meme of pointing to each other and seeing the same thing on the macro level, the way these teams got there is different. Penn State has one of the statistically best defenses in the country, allowing just 11.4 points per game (third-fewest in the nation). Ole Miss has a top-20 scoring offense with 34.8 points per game. Penn State’s offense averages more points at 37.2 per game, but does so while averaging fewer than 400 yards per game, which ranks outside the top 50 nationally.
Penn State will be without defensive end Chop Robinson, who is sitting out the bowl game to prepare for the NFL Draft. Offensive lineman Olu Fashanu has also declared for the draft, but did not say if he would opt out of the Peach Bowl.
All odds from BetMGM. Looking for college football tickets? Find them here.
What is the spread for Penn State vs. Ole Miss?
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How to watch and stream Penn State vs. Ole Miss
TV coverage is set for noon ET on Saturday, Dec. 30, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. ESPN will provide coverage for the game and it will be streaming on the ESPN app.
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(Photo of Nicholas Singleton: Joseph Weiser / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
