Atlanta, GA—If you are a college football fan and you don’t know the name Caden Prieskorn, you know it now. The senior transfer student literally one handed his way to a Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl MVP. The 6’5 Tight end hauled in 10 receptions for 136 yards and 2 touchdowns. His effort helped lead the Ole Miss Rebels to a 38-25 Peach Bowl victory.
To begin the game, it looked like the top ranked defense of Penn State would be the story. The Nittany Lions forced a three-and-out on the first possession of the game and took control of the ball at their own 32-yard line following an Ole Miss punt. Penn State’s offense constructed a 10-play, 64-yard scoring drive to go up 3-0 on the Rebels at the 9:17 mark of the opening quarter.
The offense was forced to settle for a 26-yard field goal by Alex Felkins for the first points of the game. Ole Miss tied the contest at three apiece on their next trip down the field. The Rebels went 56-yards on eight plays, finishing with a 36-yard field goal to tie the game with 7:16 left in the first quarter. Ole Miss scored the first touchdown of the game with 30 seconds left in the first quarter to take a 10-3 lead over the Lions. The Ole Miss drive spanned 3:31 as it went 77 yards on ten plays for the score.
The touchdown marked Caden PreisKorn’s first of the day. On the following drive, a 75-yard pass to Warren from Allar set Penn State up with a first down at the Ole Miss 5-yard line. Allar tossed a fourth-and-goal pass to Johnson for the Nittany Lions’ first touchdown of the game. The Nittany Lions went 75 yards on six plays for the score, tying the game 10-10 at the 13:34 mark of the second quarter. A 45-yard field goal for Ole Miss gave it a 13-10 advantage with 10:33 left in the first half. The try was the culmination of a nine-play 52-yard drive.
The Rebels recorded their second touchdown of the afternoon on their next drive, extending their lead to 20-10 with under five minutes to play in the opening half. Ole Miss scored on a 37-yard touchdown pass by Jaxson Dart to Caden Prieskorn for his second touchdown reception. Penn State answered immediately with a 75-yard touchdown drive of its own that spanned just four plays and took 2:13 off the clock. Pribula tossed a 48-yard touchdown pass to Singleton to bring the Nittany Lions back within three of Ole Miss with 2:45 left on the clock in the first half. Neither team was able to score in the final minutes and the score remained Ole Miss 20, Penn State 17 as the teams entered their locker rooms at halftime.
Ole Miss knocked through a 52-yard field goal to open the scoring in the second half, extending its lead to six points at the 10:48 mark of the third quarter. On their next drive, the Rebels added a touchdown plus a two-point conversion to go up 31-17 with 4:10 left in the third quarter. The Rebels took 10 plays to go 82 yards on their sixth scoring drive of the day. The Rebels tacked on a fourth-quarter touchdown to go up 38-17 with 6:29 left to play. The culmination of a 10-play, 65-yard drive pushed the Ole Miss lead to 21 points.
Allar threw his second touchdown pass of the day, and Pribula converted the ensuing two-point conversion try with a pass to Singleton, to cut the Ole Miss lead to 38-25 with 4:14 left to play. Penn State’s effort was just too little too late. Chants of “SEC” could be heard echoing throughout Mercedez-Benz Stadium.
The Rebels end their season having set a tone. A tone that they hope to carry into next season all the way to an SEC title.
