Ole Miss Dominates Oklahoma State, Wins 2016 Sugar Bowl

January 1, 2016

NEW ORLEANS (WCBI/ESPN) – Hugh Freeze played all the hits in Friday’s 48-20 blowout of Oklahoma State in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

The Ole Miss coach built a huge halftime lead behind pass plays involving junior stars Laquon Treadwell (71 receiving yards, three TDs) and Laremy Tunsil – that’s right, Laremy Tunsil the left tackle – both of whom likely made their final starts in Ole Miss uniforms.

(Josh McCoy/Ole Miss Athletics)

Plus, Chad Kelly completed one of the best statistical seasons by a quarterback in SEC history in style. With 375 total yards against the Cowboys (10-3), Kelly finished the season with 4,542 yards, third all-time behind only Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel.

Let’s recap the Rebels’ huge victory:

What the win means for Ole Miss: The Rebels (10-3) more than made up for last season’s humiliating bowl performance against TCU. In their return to the New Year’s Six spotlight, the Rebels thoroughly dominated a new Big 12 opponent. Ole Miss’ “Landshark” defense held in check one of the nation’s top passing offenses, limiting the Cowboys to 303 yards through the air – 54 below their per-game average of 357.3. The Cowboys failed to score a touchdown until late in the third quarter, when the game was well out of hand. Ole Miss hadn’t played in the Sugar Bowl in 46 years, but its return to the French Quarter was a resounding success.

How the game was won: The game got off to a surprisingly slow start, as a 34-yard Gary Wunderlich field goal with 2:15 left in the first quarter helped Ole Miss tie the score at 3-3. But check out the result of the Rebels’ remaining drives before halftime: touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, field goal, touchdown. They rolled up a total of 323 yards in those five straight scoring drives. Nobody in the building thought the Cowboys stood a chance of rallying after intermission.

Top play: As much fun as Ole Miss receiver Treadwell’s 45-yard pass to Jordan Wilkins was, there is only one correct choice here. With time running out in the second quarter, Ole Miss pulled out another trick play near the Oklahoma State goal line. Kelly rolled right and threw back to wide-open left tackle Tunsil for a 2-yard touchdown pass as time expired, pushing the Rebels’ halftime lead to 34-6.