This year’s Peach Bowl features a matchup between Ole Miss and the nation’s No. 1 scoring defense and TCU and the nation’s No. 2 scoring offense. The Rebels will play in their third straight bowl game and will look to cap off their first 10-win season in 11 years, while TCU recovered from a 4-8 season last year to close the season at No. 6 in the final CFP poll.
SDS took a look inside the numbers behind this year’s Peach Bowl to see where Ole Miss might have an edge and where it might be vulnerable against the Horned Frogs.
THE GOOD
13.8: The number of points per game allowed by the Ole Miss defense this season. No other team in the FBS held opponents to fewer than 16 points per game.
28: The number of takeaways recorded by the Rebels in 2014, which ranks 13th in the FBS. Ole Miss recorded at least one turnover in 11 of 12 games this season, while TCU finished 37th in the FBS with 18 giveaways on offense.
242.4: The number of passing yards per game allowed by the TCU defense. The Horned Frogs boasted the FBS’s 89th-best pass defense in 2014, while the Ole Miss offense closed the year 31st in the nation in passing offense at 275 yards per contest.
THE BAD
46.8: The number of points per game scored by the TCU offense in 2014. Only one other FBS school averaged more points per game (Baylor), and the Horned Frogs were one of just eight teams to average at least 40 points per game this year.
117.8: The number of rushing yards per game allowed by the TCU defense this season. The Horned Frogs ranked 13th in the FBS in run defense, while Ole Miss ranked 60th in the FBS and ninth in the SEC in rushing offense with nearly 168 yards per game.
39: The number of plays run by TCU’s offense that went for 30 or more yards this season. The Horned Frogs were sixth in the nation in that category, although Ole Miss ranked eighth in the FBS by allowing just 15 plays of at least 30 yards in 2014.
A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.
