College Bowl Preview (Part II)
By Corey Hunter
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl
Ole Miss Rebels Preview:
Sep 14, 2013; Austin, TX, USA; Mississippi Rebels running back Jeff Scott (3) carries the ball against the Texas Longhorns during the second half at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Ole Miss beat Texas 44-23. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports
Ole Miss began the 2013 campaign by winning its first three games, including a 44-23 victory over Mack Brown’s Texas Longhorns. The Rebels followed that up with three-consecutive losses to the likes of Alabama, Auburn and Texas A&M, a nice little SEC “Murderers Row”. Ole Miss then righted the ship by winning four games in a row taking out the likes of LSU along the way. The Rebels enter the Music City Bowl on a sour note, having dropped their final two games of the regular season against Missouri and in-state rival Mississippi State.
Quarterback Bo Wallace is a supreme talent down in Oxford. He has thrown for over 3,000 yards and 17 touchdowns for head coach Hugh Freeze. The fact still remains that Ole Miss was coming off a strong finish in 2012 and they had its best recruiting class in school history, yet the Rebels managed just a 7-5 record after hopes were high.
Ole Miss’s offense is a high-tempo style that utilizes many players at the skill positions, as five Rebel players recorded at least 250 yards rushing and five players amassed 300 yards or more receiving.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Preview:
Nov 30, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets running back Robert Godhigh (25) runs the ball past Georgia Bulldogs cornerback Damian Swann (5) in the second half at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Georgia won 41-34 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports
The Yellow Jackets are in another bowl – stop the presses! Georgia Tech is tied for the third-longest active bowl streak with 16 straight appearances. However, Paul Johnson, the Georgia Tech head coach, is only 1-4 in those bowl appearances.
Georgia Tech had an up-and-down year, much the same as Ole Miss did. Nothing epitomizes that more than when the Yellow Jackets blew a 20-point lead and lost to their rival, the Georgia Bulldogs.
Johnson, the former head coach at the Naval Academy has installed his triple-option offense at Georgia Tech. Behind running back David Sims, the Yellow Jackets had 4 players that rushed for 450 yards or more, including quarterback Vad Lee. Sims though is the bell-cow of this potent Georgia Tech running game. He rushed for 846 yards and scored 11 touchdowns. A major drawback for this option-style offense is it does not mesh well with trying to throw the ball. Lee threw for a mere 1,400 yards and a 10:9 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
For the Yellow Jackets to find success, they need to find pay dirt with their running game.
Bowl Outlook:
Ole Miss has had plenty of time to make adjustments to their defensive game plan to slow down the vaunted Georgia Tech option offense. I see the Rebels getting up in this game early, forcing Tech to throw the ball more then they would care to. The result will be at least 3 turnovers by the Rebels defense.
As of the writing of this story, Vegas has installed Ole Miss as a three-point favorite in this game. I’ll give those three points as I see Bo Wallace and company having a good game.
Score: Ole Miss – 26 Georgia Tech 17