No. 10 Penn State football will face No. 11 Ole Miss on Dec. 30 in the program’s first-ever Peach Bowl appearance, the bowl announced on Sunday.
Kickoff is slated for noon at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. This will mark the first meeting between the two programs.
The Nittany Lions entered the selection process at No. 10 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings revealed on Sunday afternoon. The top six teams were announced earlier in the day with Michigan, Washington, Texas and Alabama making the four-team playoff field.
The Peach Bowl will mark Penn State’s fifth New Year’s Six bowl appearance under coach James Franklin and ninth bowl game overall during Franklin’s 10 seasons at the helm.
“I want to thank the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Committee for inviting Penn State to Atlanta this year,” Franklin said in a statement. “This gives our program, especially seniors, a chance to stay together for a few more weeks and close out the season in a memorable way. Our team has stuck together and played as a family all year. I am thrilled for our student-athletes, senior class and staff. We are looking forward to our passionate fans filling Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Dec. 30.”
As for Ole Miss, the Rebels are also sitting at 10-2 on the year under head coach Lane Kiffin, with wins over Tulane and LSU while losing to both Alabama and Georgia over the course of the season.
Ole Miss heads into the postseason boasting the No. 20 scoring offense in the nation, the second-highest ranked team that Penn State will have faced in that department, just behind Michigan at No. 14. On the other side of the ball Ole Miss is the No. 41 ranked scoring defense in the nation allow opponents to score an average of 22.3 points per game. Mississippi is also ranked the No. 15 team in total offense averaging 455 yards of offense per game — the highest ranked team in that category Penn State has faced all season.
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