Highest-scoring bowl games in SEC history

This season’s Sugar Bowl sets up a potentially record-breaking barnburner.

Ole Miss and Oklahoma State, two teams that average over 40 points per game apiece while combining to average over 1,000 yards of total offense, will wear out the Superdome turf on New Year’s Day.

Ole Miss was involved in the highest-scoring affair involving an SEC team this season, a 105-point thriller against Arkansas that resulted in the Rebels losing 53-52 in overtime on Nov. 7. Oklahoma State didn’t even need OT to shatter that total in a 123-point contest at Texas Tech the previous week on Halloween.

Both teams will bring two of the top 10 passing offenses in the country that should have a field day airing it out against two units that have struggled to defend the pass. The Rebels rank 99th against the pass (255.1 yards per game) while the Cowboys are slotted at 91st (244.3).

On top of that, Ole Miss’ best defensive player will not be allowed to play in the game.

With that said, let’s take a look at the highest-scoring bowl games ever involving an SEC team:

2013 CHICK-FIL-A BOWL: TEXAS A&M 52, DUKE 48

Johnny Manziel put on quite the display in his last game with the Aggies, which stands as the highest-scoring bowl game in SEC history.

Johnny Football racked up 455 yards of total offense (382 passing, 73 rushing) and accounted for 5 TDs (4 passing, 1 rushing) to thwart the Blue Devils 52-48 in the 2013 Chick-Fil-A Bowl. Manziel went 30-for-38 passing and averaged a little more than a first down per pass attempt.

Texas A&M and Duke combined for almost 60 first downs and over 1,200 yards on the day. However, it was the Aggies’ defense that came up with the game-winning score: a 55-yard INT return for a touchdown by Toney Hurd Jr. with 3:33 left.

2000 MUSIC CITY BOWL: WEST VIRGINIA 49, OLE MISS 38

The Rebels already hold the second-place spot on this list, but they were on the losing end of a 49-38 defeat at the hands of the Mountaineers in the 2000 Music City Bowl.

West Virginia, playing under coach Don Nehlen for the final time after 21 years on the job, held a 49-9 lead over Ole Miss at one point.

This game was notable because it was the coming out party of sorts for Eli Manning, then a redshirt freshman, who was inserted by coach David Cutcliffe and promptly threw 3 touchdown passes in the fourth quarter. However, it was too big of a hole to overcome as the Mountaineers held on to snap an eight-game losing streak.

1996 FIESTA BOWL: NEBRASKA 62, FLORIDA 24

The year of 1996 is one that Gators fans will never forget because they experienced the absolute lowest of lows and the highest of highs.

First, the Gators suffered a humiliating beatdown at the hands of a team that had put together one of the most impressive seasons ever. Florida was a victim to a 38-point loss to Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2 as the Cornhuskers became just the second team ever to post back-to-back undefeated national championship seasons.

Florida led 10-6 before Nebraska scored 29 unanswered points in the second quarter alone. Nebraska QB Tommie Frazier, who was named the game’s MVP, rushed 16 times for 199 yards while completed 6 of 14 passes for 105 yards with a 16-yard TD pass to Lawrence Phillips.

However, the Gators would use that defeat as motivation the next season, going 11-1 with the lone defeat coming to rival Florida State before getting sweet revenge with a 52-20 manhandling of the Seminoles to capture the school’s first national championship on Jan. 2, 1997.