Sugar Bowl: Treadwell, Kelly lead Ole Miss to win vs Oklahoma State
The Ole Miss Rebels dominated the Oklahoma State Cowboys to win the Sugar Bowl and get their first 10-win season since 2003.
It was an ominous start for Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl after Chad Kelly threw an interception on the third play from scrimmage. After Ole Miss laid an egg in last year’s Peach Bowl loss to TCU it was fair to wonder if the Rebels brought their best game to New Orleans.
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After both teams traded punts and Oklahoma State got a field goal, the Rebels settled in and dominated after falling down 3-0 in the first quarter.
Ole Miss evened the score with a field goal from Gary Wunderlich and after a three-and-out from Oklahoma State got a quick-strike touchdown from Kelly to Cody Core from 31 yards out to take a 10-0 lead after the first quarter.
The second quarter began much like the first ended with Kelly throwing a long touchdown, this time, it was to junior receiver Laquon Treadwell, likely playing in his final game with Ole Miss before declaring for the NFL Draft, and hauled in a 34-yard touchdown in remarkable fashion.
Treadwell is likely to be a high first round pick and potentially the first receiver taken in April’s draft and the Ole Miss coaching staff put him in position to end his career in style and opened up the playbook for him to show off his arm. Treadwell caught a backward pass from Kelly and first a bomb from the right sideline down the middle of the field to Jordan Wilkins for a 45-yard pass, the longest play of the day for the Rebels. Two plays later, Treadwell caught a 10-yard pass from Kelly to make it 24-3.
Following an Oklahoma State field goal, Ole Miss was in position to add to their score before half. With five seconds remaining and at the 2-yard line, Ole Miss bypassed a chance to kick a field goal and went to the bag of tricks again. Kelly threw back to his left tackle, Laremy Tunsil who was wide open and strutted into the end zone. The rout was on.
Wilkins opened the second half with a 36-yard touchdown run as the Rebels continued to pound the Oklahoma State defense that was exposed against Kelly, Treadwell and the Ole Miss attack.
The Pokes got their first touchdown in the game with 1:11 left in the third when J.W. Walsh ran in from two yards out to make it a 41-3 game.
Treadwell set a Sugar Bowl record with his third touchdown in the fourth quarter to make it 48-13 and set an Ole Miss record for points in a bowl game. He finished with six catches for 71 yards and the three scores and 45 passing yards. More importantly, he leaves Ole Miss as the school’s all-time leader in receptions (202), third in yards (2,393) and third in touchdowns with 21 touchdowns.
Kelly finished with 301 yards and four touchdowns and equipped himself quite well after the interception at the start. He also had 73 rushing yards and ends the year third in SEC history for total offense, trailing only Johnny Manziel‘s two years at Texas A&M.
He will likely return for his senior season, but Treadwell and Tunsil will join Robert Nkemdiche in declaring for the NFL Draft as the trio who came to Oxford as part of the lauded 2013 class that went 27-12 the last three years, two wins against Alabama and two New Year’s Six bowl berths.
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Ole Miss finishes the year at 10-3, the first 10-win season since Eli Manning led the Rebels to a 10-3 record with a Cotton Bowl win and a top-15 ranking. Ole Miss will entered the game ranked No. 12 and should be in the top 10 in the final poll.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma State finished 10-3 after starting the year 10-0.