When Hugh Freeze met with reporters on Monday as Ole Miss kicked off its bowl preparations, he was asked if he thought TCU’s defense was underrated.

He provided a simplistic response.

No.

“[Horned Frogs head coach Gary] Patterson’s always going to have a great defense. He has a great scheme, his kids play extremely hard,” Freeze said. “I don’t think they’re underrated because I think all of us in this world know how good they are. If you look at, ever since the Baylor game, I think they’ve set a pretty good tone of what they are defensively.”

But when compared to the TCU offense and Ole Miss defense, it is easy for the Horned Frogs’ defense to get overshadowed. TCU is allowing just more than 20 points per game, and it ranks in the top-35 nationally in total defense surrendering 359.5 yards per game.

Since Patterson’s ascent to the head coaching chair in Fort Worth, his defense has topped the FBS in total defense four times, highlighted by a three-year run that resulted in three consecutive top-10 finishes. His 2010 squad won the Rose Bowl by holding the Big Ten Champion Wisconsin Badgers to a season-low 19 points.

What makes New Year’s Eve’s showdown in the Peach Bowl so fascinating is the dichotomy between the two teams. TCU: great offense, really good — perhaps underrated, though Freeze disagrees — defense. Ole Miss: great defense, really good offense.

However, that really good offense has lost two key pieces during the last month and half. Star wideout Laquon Treadwell went down on the first Saturday of November with a leg injury, and battery mate Vince Sanders suffered a torn ACL in the win over Mississippi State.

That leaves the Rebels’ receiving corps thin, with quarterback Bo Wallace searching for places to throw the football. Ole Miss has operated with a running back-by-committee approach this season, resulting in a pedestrian rushing attack for three-fourths of the season. Sure, Jaylen Walton exploded for a season-best 148 yards in the Egg Bowl and, yes, Ole Miss as a team is averaging more than 160 yards per game on the ground.

But don’t let the numbers mislead you, and TCU, well, the Horned Frogs are stout up front. Ranking in the top-15 nationally in rushing defense at 117.1 yards per game allowed, Freeze must take the same approach against TCU that he did against then-No. 4 Mississippi State.

The Rebels’ third-year head coach must get creative when finding ways to run the football. Whether it be sweeps or other wrinkles to spring Walton and his counterpart, Jordan Wilkins, to the outside or counters with backside blockers, Freeze must mix up his formations, where he lines up the back and who carries the football.

The bigger key, however, for ninth-ranked Ole Miss is finding playmakers in the passing game. TCU is surrendering 242.4 yards per game through the air. With the loss of Sanders and Treadwell — who ranked first and third, respectively, on the team receiving — both Freeze and Wallace need big plays in the passing game. The success of the offense is predicated upon the success Wallace has throwing the football, specifically downfield.

Tight end Evan Engram posted a career outing against Mississippi State. The pseudo-tight end is a versatile target who can line up on the line of scrimmage or in the slot, and can be a real matchup nightmare for defenders. Engram needs help, however. The Rebels got little production from Cody Core and Quincy Adeboyejo in the season-finale. The Rebels, when clicking, have a nice quartet of Core, Adeboyejo, Walton and Markell Pack who can perform well in the short-to-intermediate routes. Engram and Core will serve as the downfield threats against TCU.

It’s a challenge for Freeze and Ole Miss. The Rebels scored 30 points or more against a SEC opponent five times. However, one team was 3-9 Vanderbilt, while three others had bad defenses and then there was the Mississippi State game, an outlier.

Ole Miss saved its most complete offensive performance of the year for the Egg Bowl.

Can the Rebels replicate that kind of performance, and kickstart a preseason top-10 2015 campaign with a win in Atlanta on New Year’s Eve?