ATLANTA, Georgia — The marquee matchup in Saturday’s Peach Bowl is No. 10 Penn State’s top-ranked defense against No. 11 Mississippi’s up-tempo offense.
Penn State’s proud defense led the nation in fewest yards and first downs and collected the most sacks. The Nittany Lions know those rankings will be tested by a Rebels offense led by quarterback Jaxson Dart and running back Quinshon Judkins.
“All I’ve been hearing all week is Penn State defense versus Ole Miss offense,” Penn State linebacker Curtis Jacobs said Thursday. “So I feel like when that’s been hyped up so much, you’ve got to pretty much give the people what they want.”
The Rebels rank 15th in the nation with their average of 455.4 yards per game. Dart has passed for 2,985 yards with 20 touchdowns and rushed for 377 yards with seven touchdowns. Judkins has rushed for 1,052 yards and 15 touchdowns.
The Ole Miss attack is about more than balance. The Rebels rely on their up-tempo style to wear down defenses. A key could be the ability of Penn State’s defense to adjust to the tempo, which makes it difficult to send in fresh players from the sideline.
The Rebels hope their fast pace helps to slow down the Nittany Lions' pass rush, led by defensive end Adisa Isaac's 7.5 sacks.
“Tempo is always a huge part of what we do in terms of getting the D-line tired, not letting them sub, certain things like that,” Ole Miss co-offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. said Thursday. “That’s just a big part of who we are each and every week. At the end of the day, we’ve got to block them.”
Penn State (10-2) leads the nation in total defense, allowing only 223.2 yards per game. The Nittany Lions rank third with their average of 11.42 points allowed.
“They’ve got great players at all three levels of the defense,” Weis said. “They’ve got a great D-line, linebackers, secondary players. Top to bottom, they’re probably the most complete defense I’ve seen.”
Dart offered the reminder the Rebels (10-2) also played strong defenses in the Southeastern Conference. Their only losses came against Alabama and Georgia.
“I feel confident in our game plan going into it,” Dart said. “We’ve played against really good, my opinion, the best competition all year long. It’s not going to be something to where we feel like it’s out of the norm or anything like that. We’ve just got to trust each other, communicate on a really high level, and trust our training.”
Penn State lost defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, who was hired as Duke’s coach on Dec. 7. Former Indiana coach Tom Allen was hired by coach James Franklin as the Nittany Lions’ new defensive coordinator. Assistants Anthony Poindexter and Robb Smith are leading the defense for the bowl game while Allen observes.
Poindexter said the defense will be tested by the Rebels' fast pace.
“The first challenge is the tempo,” Poindexter said. “You see it sometimes, but we haven’t really seen it on a consistent basis like throughout the game like they do.”