Shorthanded Penn State defense no match for Ole Miss in Peach Bowl loss

By the third quarter, there were only a handful of starters left standing for what had once been the nation’s top-ranked defense.

Gone were both cornerbacks, two linebackers and two defensive ends, five of whom are in line to be drafted in April. And the man who organized it all, coordinator Manny Diaz, had left for the head coaching job at Duke.

What was left of Penn State’s defense was no match for the creativity and athleticism of Ole Miss, which put up big numbers en route to a 38-25 win in Saturday’s Peach Bowl.

The Rebels put up more points, total yards (540) and passing yards (394) against the Lions than any opponent this season. It was the first time since November 2022 against Ohio State that the Lions gave up 30 points.

“Just too many moving parts with the staff and with the players against a good team,” coach James Franklin said.

“Too many moving parts — staff and players — to have the type of success that we wanted to have today.”

With the loss, No. 10 Penn State finished the season 10-3 but will miss out a second-straight top-10 finish in the polls and also lost an opportunity to become the first program to win every New Year’s Six bowl.

No. 11 Ole Miss would have given a full-strength Lions defense some problems with coach Lane Kiffin’s use of tempo, misdirection and aggressive play-calling.

The Rebels (11-2) found plenty of success by hurrying to the line to get plays off, especially with the Lions’ depth issues in the game.

“We want to have our cleats set and be on the same page, and sometimes hurry-up causes disruption with that,” safety Kevin Winston Jr. said. “That’s the main thing that causes difficulty with that.”

Opt-outs and injuries made things much worse for Penn State, which was victimized by quarterback Jaxson Dart, wideout Tre Harris and tight end Caden Prieskorn, who led the Rebels to their first 11-win season in program history.

Penn State’s own inconsistent offense couldn’t keep up, getting shut out for the first 25 minutes of the second half on a rough day for quarterback Drew Allar (19-for-39), who threw for 295 yards and two touchdowns but lost two turnovers on an interception and a fumble.

“It’s a little bit of Drew,” Franklin said of the Lions’ passing woes against ranked opponents this season. “I think it’s a little bit of the offensive line. I think it’s a little bit of the coaches. I think it’s a little bit of the wide receivers. It’s a piece of all of it. We’ve got to make some plays for him, and he’s got to make some plays as well.”

The Lions trailed 20-17 at halftime thanks to a pair of touchdown catches by All-SEC selection Prieskorn. The second came from 37 yards out on a blown coverage by the Lions.

Penn State’s own standout tight ends accounted for a touchdown as Tyler Warren turned an improbable one-handed grab into a career-long catch-and-run of 75 yards at the end of the first quarter. That set up a 2-yard score by Theo Johnson on fourth-and-goal.

Ole Miss led 20-10 before the Lions struck back, putting both quarterbacks on the field at the same time as Beau Pribula found running back Nick Singleton for a 48-yard touchdown.

Warren and Singleton were the lone standouts on an otherwise frustrating day for the offense. Warren, who surprisingly decided to announce his return for 2024 instead of heading to the NFL, had five grabs for 127 yards. Singleton had 136 total yards on 12 total touches and added a two-point conversion catch.

SHORTHANDED LIONS

Penn State’s top draft prospects made the trip to Atlanta. Some of them even practiced with the team this week. But they didn’t take the field for the Lions on Saturday.

Star tackle Olu Fashanu and cornerback Kalen King — a surefire first-round pick and a borderline one, respectively — were ruled out before kickoff. Edge rusher Chop Robinson, another first-round hopeful, announced earlier in the month he would sit out the game to prepare for the draft, though he did end up spending Saturday with the team on the sideline.

Also missing was another starting corner in Johnny Dixon, who was the lone draft entrant not to be present at the game.

“We had some injuries. We had some guys that had limited roles in the second half compared to the first half,” Franklin said. “All those things factored into it.”

On offense, Drew Shelton started at left tackle, as he did in last year’s Rose Bowl when Fashanu was still recovering from an injury.

In the secondary, the Lions went with veteran Daequan Hardy and Cam Miller as the starting cornerbacks. Dani Dennis-Sutton started in Robinson’s place up front.

When the second half started, Penn State’s other veteran tackle, Caedan Wallace, was out of the game as he eyes the draft. True freshman Anthony Donkoh took his place on the right side.

At linebacker, Abdul Carter got rolled up on late in the first half and was limping when he tried to return after the break.

At one point, true freshman backup Tony Rojas was injured as well, which brought back starter Curtis Jacobs — who might have otherwise been done for the day while looking ahead to the draft himself — onto the field.

WIDEOUT WORRIES

Penn State entered the season with wide receiver as its biggest question mark. It looks like 2024 will be no different.

The Lions did get a boost on Saturday with the return of starter Harrison Wallace, who had missed all of November with an injury. But the wideouts finished with just seven catches for 92 yards on the day.

A Penn State wide receiver didn’t come up with a reception until the fourth quarter when Liam Clifford caught a short pass against soft coverage on second-and-15. He followed it up with a third-down conversion on the next play.

Wallace snagged a 14-yard touchdown with the game out of reach in the fourth quarter. It was his first and only score of a season that was limited to just six games because of injuries.

“I think the biggest thing is we’ve got to be able to scare people and be a threat consistently on the perimeter,” Franklin said. “That’s something I think we’ve shown flashes of at times, but we need to be able to do that on a consistent basis.

Wallace is in line to return next season. Leading receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith (one target, zero catches) has an extra year of eligibility to use because he played during the abbreviated 2020 COVID season, but early signs have pointed to him moving on.

Kent State transfer Dante Cephas also has an extra year to use, should he choose. He dressed but did not play Saturday.

In the past month, the Lions have been linked to former Southern Columbia star Julian Fleming, who left Ohio State via the transfer portal. But the one-time five-star recruit has not announced a destination.