It may not have been the bowl that TCU hoped to be invited to Sunday afternoon, but No. 6 Horned Frogs coach Gary Patterson said he is more than happy to play No. 9 Ole Miss in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
The two teams will meet on Dec. 31 in the Georgia Dome in what should be a fun game featuring one of the best offenses in college football in TCU against one of the best defenses in Ole Miss. Kick off will be 12:30 p.m.
The Horned Frogs (11-1), co-champs of the Big 12, were one of the six teams that hoped to be selected as one of the four to make the inaugural playoffs. However, they and conference co-champ Baylor (the only team to beat TCU this season) were edged by Ohio State for the final spot.
“We want to prove we are a team that should have been in the playoff,” Patterson said. “The Peach Bowl is exactly the type of game we should be in (to do that).”
The Rebels (9-3) were the darlings of college football early in the year after defeating Alabama 23-17 before stumbling in the season’s second half with losses to LSU, Auburn and Arkansas. They defeated Boise State 35-13 earlier this year in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at the Georgia Dome.
Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze wasn’t sure his team would be selected to make one of the “Big Six” bowls that are part of the playoff rotation because of the three losses, but as the favorites began to win on Saturday he grew more confident his team would receive consideration.
“It should be an interesting matchup,” he said.
Because it is in the rotations of games that are part of the playoffs, the Peach Bowl’s organizers had no say in the selection of the teams, unlike in previous years. The Peach Bowl will host its first semifinal on Dec. 31, 2016. The bowl learned of the matchup when the teams popped up on an ESPN graphic.
But they may have had a difficult time picking a better game.
Ole Miss, led by quarterback Bo Wallace, averaged 30.4 points and 443.2 yards per game. But it is the team’s defense that was the story most of the season. Led by former Grayson High standout Robert Nkemdiche, the Rebels gave up averages of 13.8 points, tops among FBS teams, and 321.1 yards per game.
It will have its hands full trying to stop TCU’s offense.
Led by quarterback Trevone Boykin, who passed for 3,714 yards and 30 touchdowns and also rushed for 642 yards and eight more touchdowns, the Horned Frogs averaged 46.8 points, second-most in FBS, and 542.2 yards per game, fourth-most in FBS.
Its defense is almost as stingy as its offense is prolific.
Led by Paul Dawson’s 18 1/2 tackles for loss, the group allowed just 20.3 points and 359.5 yards per game this season.
Patterson declined to criticize the playoff selection committee for leaving out his team, noting that if everyone agrees to a new process like the playoffs they need to give it time to work.
Instead, he said his focus will turn to recruiting, Ole Miss and trying to reach 12-1.
“We have a very hard test against us,” he said. “We can play our best game and still get beat so we’ve got to go play.”
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