{"id":29813,"date":"2015-12-17T14:33:30","date_gmt":"2015-12-17T19:33:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=29813"},"modified":"2015-12-17T14:38:34","modified_gmt":"2015-12-17T19:38:34","slug":"ole-miss-rebels-take-on-oklahoma-state-cowboys-in-new-years-day-sugar-bowl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/ole-miss-rebels-take-on-oklahoma-state-cowboys-in-new-years-day-sugar-bowl\/","title":{"rendered":"Ole Miss Rebels Take on Oklahoma State Cowboys in New Year’s Day Sugar Bowl"},"content":{"rendered":"

At a <\/span>New Year<\/b><\/span>\u2019s party a few years ago, I was asked to make a toast for something that I\u2019d like to see change in the coming year. I didn\u2019t really have anything in mind that was original and party-appropriate, so I facetiously toasted to <\/span>Hugh Freeze<\/b><\/span>, <\/span>Ole Miss<\/b><\/span>\u2019 newly-appointed football coach, that he may be \u201cthe next coming of<\/span> Johnny Vaught<\/b><\/span>.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The table scoffed, as did I, but all the <\/span>Rebels<\/b><\/span> around the table raised a glass anyway, as they do every year. The Ole Miss Rebels weren\u2019t playing in any bowl game that season, let alone a bowl on New Year\u2019s Day. Such unprecedented success, at least in my lifetime, seemed all but impossible.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Hugh<\/a>
Coach Hugh Freeze fields questions at a post-game press conference.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fast forward to Coach Hugh Freeze\u2019s fourth year at the helm, and the Rebs find themselves prepping for a <\/span>Sugar Bowl<\/b><\/span> berth for the first time since <\/span>Archie Manning<\/b><\/span>\u2019s playing days.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI still have to pinch myself sometimes,\u201d said Freeze in a recent press conference. \u201cIt is definitely a bucket list deal for me and our program. The stories of Archie Manning leading Ole Miss to the Sugar Bowl are ones that I grew up with.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This year\u2019s Sugar Bowl pits the Rebels against their eternal consolation prize, <\/span>Oklahoma State<\/b><\/span>. The<\/span> Cowboys<\/b><\/span> are familiar bowl foes for Ole Miss fans, as the Rebels took them down in the <\/span>Cotton Bowl<\/b><\/span> after the 2003 and 2009 seasons.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Oklahoma State, led by head coach and self-professed 40-year-old-man <\/span>Mike Gundy<\/b><\/span>, started the season on a 10-0 tear before dropping some key conference games when it mattered most. <\/span>Baylor<\/b><\/span>\u2019s loss to <\/span>Texas<\/b><\/span> – coupled with Oklahoma\u2019s slot in the playoff – allowed the Cowboys to sneak into a New Year\u2019s Six bowl despite their late-season fade. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Col<\/a>
Colonel Reb won’t make an official appearance at the game, but he wishes the team well.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As always under Gundy, the Cowboys feature a pass-first offense that will look to expose the Rebs\u2019 inconsistent defensive secondary. It\u2019s worth noting that <\/span>Tony Conner<\/b><\/span> will be sitting this game out due to surgery. However, Oklahoma State has similar defensive issues that <\/span>Chad Kelly<\/b><\/span> and the record-setting Ole Miss offense will look to exploit. Expect a lot of points in what should be one of this year\u2019s more entertaining marquee bowl matchups.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to some veteran senior playmakers such as RB <\/span>Jaylen Walton<\/b><\/span> and S <\/span>Trae Elston<\/b><\/span>, a second-team All-American this year, several key Rebel juniors will likely be suiting up in the Red and Blue for the final time before shoving off for the <\/span>NFL<\/b><\/span>. WR <\/span>Laquon Treadwell<\/b><\/span> and LT <\/span>Laremy Tunsil<\/b><\/span> are almost certainly first-round NFL draft locks. Both the 2003 and 2009 teams that defeated Oklahoma State were stockpiled with NFL talent, and this year<\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s Rebel squad is clearly no different.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While Junior DT <\/span>Robert Nkemdiche<\/b><\/span> boasts all the talent in the world, a recent fall from a window, coupled with a misdemeanor possession charge, may well keep him out of the bowl game. While his injuries appear to be minimal, Nkemdiche\u2019s status will not be determined until the record is set straight and Freeze has a chance to talk personally with the former #1 high school recruit in the nation.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Hugh<\/a>
Coach Freeze.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhen you and I grew up, we made our mistakes,\u201d said Freeze, \u201cbut they weren\u2019t on the front page of everything. Unfortunately, today, that is not the case. What kids do is well known.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Nkemdiche\u2019s status aside, it\u2019s been a long time since a Rebel team was deep and talented enough to turn in a Sugar-Bowl worthy performance over the course of an entire season. Johnny Vaught was able to attract and coach the talent to win five Sugar Bowls during his illustrious tenure, the last of which was an Archie-led upset of <\/span>Arkansas<\/b><\/span> in 1970\u2019s contest. With an incoming recruiting class that may match the star power of the 2013 class with a few lucky breaks, Freeze looks ready to cement a winning tradition of his own.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to the buyout that comes with a second consecutive New Year\u2019s Six bowl, the Rebs will also benefit from added practice time at home and in New Orleans. Freeze said that this year\u2019s preparation would be much more simple and stationary than last year\u2019s <\/span>Peach Bowl<\/b><\/span> practices, which ultimately resulted in a 42-3 loss at the hands of <\/span>TCU<\/b><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are the home team, and we have first choice of practice [space],\u201d said Freeze. \u201cWe\u2019ll be in the Superdome.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Pretty nice digs for a team that, four years ago, was sitting in their living rooms on New Year\u2019s Day.\u00a0\"The<\/a><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At a New Year\u2019s party a few years ago, I was asked to make a toast for something<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251,"featured_media":29814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4303,5097,7445,41,4258,4938,1647,2084,896,4967,5967,653,700,1645,7425,7444,4399,4384,655],"class_list":["post-29813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ole-miss","tag-archie-manning","tag-chad-kelly","tag-cowboys","tag-hugh-freeze","tag-jaylen-walton","tag-john-vaught","tag-laquon-treadwell","tag-laremy-tunsil","tag-new-orleans","tag-new-years","tag-oklahoma-state","tag-ole-miss-football","tag-rebels","tag-robert-nkemdiche","tag-sugar-bowl","tag-superdome","tag-tony-conner","tag-trae-elston","tag-university-of-mississippi"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/2015-12-06-SugarBowl-1.jpg?fit=620%2C349&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/251"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}