COLLEGE BOWL NEWS: Ole Miss Falls to TCU in Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl

Senquez Golson returns an
 interception for the Rebels.
 (Photo by Joshua McCoy)

ATLANTA, Ga. – A dominant effort by No. 6 TCU on both sides of the ball was too much to overcome for No. 9 Ole Miss, as the Rebels (9-4) lost 42-3 in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Wednesday afternoon in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome.

“We did not perform well today,” head coach Hugh Freeze said. “TCU did. I take credit for that. It’s my responsibility. I didn’t have our kids prepared to play and compete today. But I’m extremely proud of our kids and how they’ve turned this program, in three short years, to being relevant and competitive. I’m just sick that it wasn’t that way for them today.”

The nation’s second-leading offense, the Horned Frogs (12-1) scored early and often, and the defense suffocated the Ole Miss offense, holding the Rebels to a season-low 10 first downs and 129 yards of total offense.

“They’re a good defense,” senior quarterback Bo Wallace said. “They won some one-on-ones. And credit to them, they had a good plan against us.”

Senior cornerback Senquez Golson tied the school record with his 10th interception of the season, the 16th of his career, which is tied for third place in Ole Miss history. It also helped set up the Rebels’ lone score of the game, a 27-yard field goal by freshman kicker Gary Wunderlich.

Playing in their third straight bowl game for the first time since 1998-2000, Ole Miss had its six-game bowl winning streak snapped, which was tied with Florida State for the longest in the nation. The Rebels’ nine wins are the most since 2009, when they also finished the season with a 9-4 mark.

“We have a lot of kids returning next year, and there’s a valuable lesson to be learned from today and the way we prepared,” Freeze said. “We have to go back and look at all of that and the things that I need to do differently to make sure our kids put forth their best on a day like today.”