Peach Bowl: Betting odds, key players, and how to watch Penn State vs. Ole Miss

Penn State and Ole Miss both ended up on the outside of the College Football Playoff looking in with a 10-2 regular season record. Still, that season was good enough to lock up a spot in a New Year’s Six Bowl game and will meet in the Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday. 

Here is how to watch the first New Year’s Six Bowl game of the 2023-24 bowl season. 

How to watch

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl: No. 11 Ole Miss (SEC) vs. No. 10 Penn State (Big Ten)

• Date: Saturday, December 30
• Time: 12:00 PM EST
• Venue: Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta)
• How to Watch: ESPN
• Streaming: FuboTV
• Ole Miss record: 10-2
• Penn State record: 10-2

The Nittany Lions come into the matchup with the No. 1 defense in the entire country in total yards per game and the best run defense in the nation. Despite struggling on offense for most of the season, Penn State is favored over Ole Miss. 

James Franklin and Lane Kiffin have both managed to keep the core of their roster together since the end of the regular season and are only expected to have one opt-out apiece when kickoff comes on Saturday. 

That means most of the key players will be on the field as Penn State attempts to become the first school to win all six New Year’s Six Bowls. 

Key Players

Penn State

Dani Dennis-Sutton, DE: Dennis-Sutton came to Happy Valley as a five-star edge rusher in 2022, and now it's his time to step into a more significant role at the end of his sophomore season. This season, he was eighth in total snaps and played more than Chop Robinson with Robinson missing two games due to injury. 

Even though Dennis-Sutton played a lot this year, these will be the most important snaps of his season. Penn State has not seen an offense that plays at the pace of Ole Miss this season, so the pass rush will be crucial to slow down that tempo. 

Dennis-Sutton recorded five sacks and 26 pressures on 155 pass-rush snaps this season. He also had 14 stops in the running game and run defense will be an emphasis to slow down Quinshon Judkins. 

Ole Miss

Tre Harris, WR: This season, Penn State allowed the fewest plays of 10+ yards in the country with just 99 and the fourth-fewest plays over 20 yards. The Nittany Lions do not allow many explosive plays, and that is Tre Harris’s specialty. 

Ole Miss plays at the 34th fastest pace in the country and averages 6.1 yards per play. Even with that level of efficiency, the Rebels will need a few explosives to beat the nation’s No. 1 defense. 

In the regular season, Harris averaged 18.1 yards per reception with 47 catches for 851 yards. He ranked ninth in the country averaging 3.18 yards per route run. At 6-foot-2 205-pounds, he could be a lot for Kalen King to handle.