Taking a position-by-position look at the Peach Bowl showdown between No. 9 Ole Miss and No. 6 TCU:
QUARTERBACK — TCU: Bo Wallace has been frustratingly inconsistent throughout his three-year tenure as the starting quarterback at Ole Miss, and he’s no match for TCU superstar Trevone Boykin in the battle between starting quarterbacks. Boykin was one of three finalists for the Davey O’Brien Award, given annually to the nation’s best quarterback, and he finished in the top 10 in this year’s Heisman voting. He threw for more yards and more touchdowns than Wallace, and ran for more yards and touchdowns as well. Wallace is more than capable as a starting quarterback, but Boykin is a legitimate star capable of taking over a game.
RUNNING BACK — TCU: The Horned Frogs and Rebels both used a tailback-by-committee approach in 2014, but TCU’s committee held an obvious edge statistically this season. Ole Miss ran for 500 fewer yards and 10 fewer touchdowns, and there were a number of games in which the Rebels rushing attack was eliminated from the equation entirely. The Horned Frogs are a pass-first offense as well, but they maintained far more balance than the Ole Miss offense and were far more productive in the run game, thanks to Boykin and tailbacks Aaron Green and B.J. Catalon. All three players ran for at least 490 yards this year, while Ole Miss had just one back clear 490 yards and zero run for more than 600 yards.
WIDE RECEIVER/TIGHT END — TCU: If Laquon Treadwell was still healthy and expected to play in this game, this would be a different conversation. Unfortunately, Treadwell won’t be available for this game after suffering season-ending injuries in a late-season loss to Auburn, giving an obvious edge to the TCU receiver corps. The Horned Frogs had five players rack up at least 350 yards through the air this season, and had two different players haul in at least eight touchdown receptions. Ole Miss still has plenty of productive pass-catchers in the form of Evan Engram, Vince Sanders and Cody Core, but without its most dynamic playmaker it lacks the firepower that TCU possesses on offense.
OFFENSIVE LINE — TCU: The Rebels may have the best individual offensive lineman between these two teams in left tackle Laremy Tunsil, who should be much healthier for the bowl game than he was in the final weeks of the regular season. However, TCU has an obvious edge when evaluating these two offensive lines in their entirety. The Horned Frogs allowed fewer sacks and tackles for loss than Ole Miss this season, and its line paved the way for a far more productive rushing attack. The Rebels offensive line was somewhat of a liability at times, making it easy to give the nod to TCU.
DEFENSIVE LINE — TCU: The Rebels have the better defense when evaluating these units as a whole, but when solely analyzing the two defensive lines in a vacuum the Horned Frogs actually hold a slight edge. TCU had four defensive linemen record more than 3.0 sacks this season, while Ole Miss had just two. TCU also had more tackles for loss among its defensive linemen, and the Horned Frogs actually allowed fewer rushing yards per game this season than the Rebels did, although the Rebels were playing in a conference with some of the best rushing attacks in the nation. Both units were above average in 2014, but at the end of the day the TCU defensive line was the more impactful unit this year.
LINEBACKER — Ole Miss: The Rebels linebacker corps suffered a major blow when it lost junior Denzel Nkemdiche for the season after he fractured his ankle in a loss to LSU. Nevertheless, the tandem of sixth-year senior Deterrian Shackelford and former All-SEC performer Serderius Bryant has been as daunting as any group of linebackers in the nation. Bryant is known as a hard-hitter who loves to fly from sideline to sideline to make plays. Shackelford captained the defense from his middle linebacker position, using his incredible maturity and unmatched experienced to keep the Landsharks on-point and in rhythm each and every week. TCU has some talented linebackers of its own, but the pairing of Bryant and Shackelford marks one of the best linebacker tandems in the entire nation.
SECONDARY — Ole Miss: The Rebels have an even greater edge in the secondary than they do at the linebacker position, boasting two All-American defensive backs in Senquez Golson (the SEC’s interception leader in 2014) and Cody Prewitt. Ole Miss is deeper in the secondary than just those two stars though, as fellow defensive backs Tony Conner, Mike Hilton, Trae Elston and others all rose to the occasion in 2014. Ole Miss was 14th in the nation in pass defense this season, while TCU was 88th in that regard. The Rebels have superior star-power, greater depth and better numbers than the TCU secondary, giving them a lopsided edge when comparing the two secondaries.
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.
