The All State Sugar Bowl marks the last of the New Year’s Six bowl games, as the 10-2 Oklahoma State Cowboys take on the 9-3 Mississippi Rebels at the New Orleans Superdome.
It’s the Big 12 vs the SEC in what should be an offensive affair with plenty of action in store for the fans of college football.
Oklahoma State will be making their first trip to the Sugar Bowl in seven decades, while Mississippi will be playing here for the first time since 1970.
Bowl: All State Sugar Bowl
Teams: Oklahoma State Cowboys vs Ole Miss Rebels
Date/Time: January 1, 2016 – 8:30 PM EST on ESPN
Location: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, LA
Vegas Line/Total: Ole Miss -7 / O/U 67
Written by: Erik the Hun
10 – 2 Record – 6 – 6 Vs Spread 11/28/15 Oklahoma L 23-58 L 7.5 O 63 |
9 – 3 Record – 7 – 5 Vs Spread 11/28/15 @ Mississippi State W 38-27 W -2 U 65.5 |
January 2, 2015 – Cactus Bowl – Cowboys – 30 – 22 Washington January 3, 2014 – Cotton Bowl – Cowboys 31 – 41 Missouri January 1, 2013 – Heart Of Dallas Bowl – Cpwboys 58 – 14 Purdue January 2, 2012 – Fiesta Bowl – Cowboys – 41 – 38 Stanford OT December 29, 2010 – Alamo Bowl – Cowboys 36 – 10 Arizona |
December 31, 2014 – Peach Bowl – Ole Miss 3 – 42 TCU December 30, 2013 – Music City Bowl – Ole Miss 25 – 17 Georgia Tech January 5, 2013 – BBVA Compass Bowl – Ole Miss 38 – 17 Pittsburgh January 2, 2010 – Cotton Bowl – Ole Miss 21 – 7 Oklahoma State January 2, 2009 – Cotton Bowl – Ole Miss 47 – 34 Texas Tech |
Oklahoma State Outlook:
The Cowboys opened the season on a ten game tear finally reaching the top five after the ninth victory. They lost their last two against Baylor and in-state rival Oklahoma to finish off their regular season. Mike Gundy’s team was far more productive on the offensive side of the ball than the defensive side. The Cowboys were in the top ten in the nation in scoring offence. Mason Rudolph and back up J.W. Walsh both performed above expectations.
Mason Rudolph threw for an exceptional 3591 yards on 246 completions and 21 touchdowns with nine interceptions. Throughout the year the physicality of season wore on Rudolph, culminating in a foot injury that has the signal-caller in a walking boot within a week of this game.
J.W. Walsh filled in admirably throwing for 663 yards on only 48 completions resulting in 13 touchdowns and only one pick. Walsh can also bring the running game to the quarterback position. Walsh tallied 285 yards on 67 attempts and found pay dirt another 11 times.
The 109th ranked running game for the Cowboys left the offense terribly unbalanced. Chris Carson was the leading rusher with 504 yards on 121 attempts netting four touchdowns.
James Washington led a group of receivers that had at least 20 catches between six wideouts. Washington caught 52 balls for 1077 yards and 10 scores. The 20.4 yards a catch was pretty impressive despite being double teamed for most of the year.
Defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah was the one bright spot on a unproductive defense that was ranked 85th in points allowed at 29 per game. Ogbah finished fourth in the FBS with 13 quarterback take-downs, but that didn’t seem to help a passing defense that gave up almost 250 yards a contest. Teams found it even easier to run the ball against the Cowboys. Oklahoma State was 83rd in the country giving away 185.2 rushing yards a game.
Mississippi Outlook:
Mississippi was the only team to beat mighty Alabama but then dropped league games to Florida and Arkansas and ended up here. Ole Miss seen their offensive numbers increase drastically with the addition of quarterback Chad Kelly ranking them 10 nationally in passing and scoring 40 points a contest. On the flip side of that equation, the defense wasn’t near last years unit that was ranked 1st in scoring defense.
Chad Kelly put together a strong year at quarterback. He completed 277 passes for 3740 yards and 27 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. Kelly proved he can move the ball with his feet also. Kelly scampered for 436 yards on 96 carries and recorded another 10 scores.
Jaylen Walton was the Rebels primary ball carrier. Walton totaled 690 yards on 134 attempts with five touchdowns to show for his efforts. Akeem Judd and Jordan Wilkins combined for 138 carries and another 713 yards a six scores.
Almost six Rebel receivers caught over 30 passes from Kelly. LaQuon Treadwell led this group with 76 receptions for 1082 yards and eight trips to the end zone. Quincy Adeboyejo, Cody Core and Damore’ea Stringfellow had 106 receptions that compiled 1637 yards for 15 touchdowns.
Ole Miss’s defense was very susceptible to the pass this year yielding 255.1 yards a game ranking 100th in the NCAA Division I standings. Running the ball wasn’t as easy as the defense kept clubs to 132.4 yards a game placing them at 27th nationally. The Rebels better figure out the back half of the defense or the Cowboys will certainly put plenty a points up through the air.
Matchup Analysis & Prediction
Analysis:
The 2015 All State Sugar Bowl is sure to be packed full of offense that will provide a scoring jamboree for New Years Day viewers. Both teams should not find much resistance delivering the ball through the air against meager secondaries. New Orleans will be rocking the first day of the new year away watching Ole Miss and Oklahoma State trade blow for blow or throw for throw if you prefer.
Prediction:
To get further analysis from Ej the Rainmaker and Erik the Hun, check out our audio preview of the Sugar Bowl using the audio file below…
