Peach Bowl – Rebels vs Nittany Lions Free Picks
Will The Ole Miss Rebels Pull Off a 2023 Peach Bowl Upset?
The Ole Miss Rebels will face the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Chik-fil-a Peach Bowl.
This game will begin a packed Saturday that includes four exciting matchups. The Peach Bowl will, again, lead us off at noon ET on ESPN.
Surprisingly, neither team has lost much talent to opt-outs or the transfer portal. Ole Miss lost starting right tackle Micah Pettus in Week 10 due to an NCAAF injury, but he’s the only significant player who won’t play for the Rebels.
Meanwhile, Penn State only has one significant player joining the transfer portal. The two opt-outs for Penn State include DE Chop Robinson and TE Theo Johnson. Johnson caught six touchdowns, and Robinson was terrific on the defensive line. That’s why they’ll both forgo this game and get ready for the NFL Draft.
However, with so many games filled with backups, we should be grateful that we’ll get a genuine game between two of the best NCAAF teams in the country.
Despite the multiple opt-outs for Penn State, the Nittany Lions are favored at -4. There hasn’t been much line movement since the game opened. However, the Nittany Lions have seen more action promoting the jump from -3.5 at open to -4.
Meanwhile, the total has stayed steady at around 48.5. Earlier in the week, you could’ve got a 49.5 number. But that’s no longer on the board. Penn State is currently a -170 favorite, with Ole Miss sitting at +145.
What’s the play in the 2023 Peach Bowl? We’ve got the answers below.
Rebels vs Nittany Lions 
Day/Time:
Location: Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Streaming: ESPN
The Season Is Over For Backup QB Spencer Sanders
Ole Miss brought in transfer quarterback Spencer Sanders to compete for the quarterback job against Jaxson Dart. Sanders came to Ole Miss as a grad transfer, thinking he would get the job and play in the SEC as a starting quarterback.
His first four seasons were at Oklahoma State, where he earned at least 2,000 passing yards in every season. He also accumulated 67 passing touchdowns and 18 rushing touchdowns during his time as the Cowboys quarterback.
However, he didn’t win the job as a graduate and threw just 29 attempts and 11 carries this NCAAF season.
But if that’s not embarrassing enough for the grad transfer, Spencer Sanders has been ruled ineligible for the Peach Bowl due to academic issues. Sanders, a graduate, who should be a leader for the program, couldn’t get his grades in order and will no longer be able to play in this game.
Therefore, Sanders’ career is finished in college football. He finished with 9,831 yards passing, 70 passing touchdowns, and 18 more rushing touchdowns. It was a remarkable career, but it’ll be forgotten after a brutal decision to finish his college career at Ole Miss.
Penn State Found Its New Defensive Coordinator
Penn State has had a lot of turnover with the football staff.
The Nittany Lions fired its offensive coordinator in the middle of the season and hired Andy Kotelnicki from Kansas for the position in 2024. However, the former Kansas offensive coordinator won’t work this game. Penn State will use co-offensive coordinators for the bowl game.
Meanwhile, defensive coordinator Manny Diaz just took the head coaching job at Duke. Therefore, Penn State will also have co-defensive coordinators for this game.
That said, it was just announced that former Indiana head coach Tom Allen has agreed to be the new defensive coordinator at Penn State. He, like Kotelnicki, won’t coach in this game. However, Penn State certainly added some significant pieces to its staff to retain the current NCAAF players and earn the trust of recruits.
Concerns With Penn State
Penn State seems to have everything figured out. But we’re still concerned over the fact that the Nittany Lions won’t have a true offensive or defensive coordinator for this game.
We also don’t like the fact that the Nittany Lions are allowing multiple coordinators for each side of the ball for this game. Moving forward, there could be a significant disconnect, especially on the defensive end.
Penn State performed better this season. The Nittany Lions were 10-2, with the only losses coming against Michigan and Penn State. They never really have much of a problem beating other teams. It’s only those two Big Ten squads. That’s the good news.
However, Ole Miss has scored nearly 35 points per game, averaging 262.58 yards in the air and another 179 yards on the ground. If anything, the Nittany Lions have struggled tackling at times this season. However, the rest of the defense has been almost spotless.
Still, they’re competing against Jaxson Dart of Ole Miss. He threw for 2,985 yards per game this season. No quarterback in the Big Ten was better than Dart this season.
Meanwhile, Ole Miss also has Quinshon Judkins, who averaged more than a touchdown per game with 1,052 yards on the ground.
Penn State is dominant against the run. The secondary is also highly competitive. But miscommunication could be the difference in this game. We’re unsure if Penn State will have everything for this NCAAF matchup.
Ole Miss will undoubtedly catch any team sleeping on offense.
On the other hand, Penn State’s offense falls asleep against top-tier opponents. It happened against Michigan and Ohio State. It’ll probably happen against Ole Miss, too.
The college football scores and odds have been electric during college bowl season. Some of the NCAAF odds have been mind-boggling early, just like the 2023 Peach Bowl. That said, we’ll back Ole Miss at +4 and take the Under 48.5 due to Penn State’s inability to score points against ranked opponents.
For NCAAF betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
