Sugar Bowl Notebook: Rebels fall to Baylor, 21-7

NEW ORLEANS — Ole Miss fought hard, but the Rebels couldn’t overcome the loss of Matt Corral to injury or the swarming Baylor defense in a 21-7 loss to the Bears in the Sugar Bowl.

Here are some items of note from the game, courtesy of Ole Miss media relations.

SERIES INFORMATION

• Ole Miss and Baylor met for just the second time on the football field.
• Baylor won the lone meeting between the two schools with a 20-10 victory, in 1975, in Waco, Texas.

GENERAL INFORMATION

• This was Ole Miss’ second straight bowl appearance under Lane Kiffin.
• The Rebels entered 21st all-time among Division I teams with 39 bowl appearances.
• Ole Miss entered with 24 bowl victories in program history, which ranks 14th in the FBS.
• The Rebels entered leading the NCAA in bowl win percentage at .649, but now rank tied for fourth at .632.
• Ole Miss is 12-3 in its last 15 bowl games on the field dating back to the 1992 Liberty Bowl.
• The Rebels are one of four SEC schools and 16 nationally to make a New Year’s Six bowl game in three or more years since its inception in 2015.
• This was Ole Miss’ 10th Sugar Bowl appearance and its first since 2016. All-time, the Rebels now hold a 6-4 record in the Sugar Bowl.

CAPTAINS

• Jerrion Ealy (RB), Dontario Drummond (WR) and Chance Campbell (LB)

STARTERS

• Nick Broeker, Matt Corral and Jeremy James are the active Ole Miss leaders with 23 consecutive starts.
• Other notable career starts include WR Dontario Drummond (31st), QB Matt Corral (27th), DE Sam Williams (27th), WR Jonathan Mingo (26th), OL Nick Broeker (23rd) and OL Jeremy James (23rd).

GENERAL NOTES

• Attendance for tonight’s game was 66,479.

OFFENSIVE NOTES

• QB Matt Corral left the game in the first quarter with an injury and did not return, ending the game at 2-of-6 passing for 10 yards and an interception alongside 17 rushing yards on seven carries.
• Corral ends his Ole Miss career with 8,287 passing yards (No. 3 all-time), 57 passing touchdowns (No. 3), a 67.3 career completion percentage (No. 1) on 614 completions (No. 3) and 912 attempts (No. 4), 9.1 yards per attempt (No. 2), 13.5 yards per completion (No. 6), 11 games with 300 yards passing (Tied No. 3), 9,625 career yards of total offense (No. 3) and 75 total touchdowns responsible for (No. 3). He also ends with 1,338 career rushing yards and 18 rushing touchdowns.
• Corral ends his Ole Miss career having thrown a passing touchdown in 23 of his last 25 games played.
• QB Luke Altmyer ended the day with 174 yards passing in relief of Corral, including his first career touchdown pass, a career-long 37-yard pass to WR Braylon Sanders.
• WR Braylon Sanders caught his fourth touchdown pass of the season, tying a single-season career high of four set in 2020. Sanders ends his career with 10 career touchdown receptions and 1,453 yards on 69 receptions.
• WR Dontario Drummond led the Rebels with 104 on nine catches, his fourth 100-yard game this season and fifth in his career. Drummond has had at least six receptions in six games this season, and he closed with a combined 217 yards on 21 receptions in his final two games.
• RB Jerrion Ealy led the Ole Miss rushing attack with 12 carries for 65 yards. He ends the season with 768 rushing yards.

DEFENSIVE NOTES

• Ole Miss held Baylor to just 40 yards passing, the fewest by a Rebel opponent since holding The Citadel to 21 yards on Oct. 8, 2005.
• LB Chance Campbell led the Rebels with 10 tackles (eight solo), his fourth double-digit tackle outing of the year. Campbell ends the season with a team-leading 109 tackles.
• DB Miles Battle recorded his first career interception in the third quarter.
• DB Deane Leonard tied a career-high with three pass breakups, the second time he has done so this season (vs. Texas A&M, Nov. 13).
• DE Sam Williams notched 1.0 TFL, moving him to fifth all-time at Ole Miss with 33.5 career tackles for loss.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES 

• P Mac Brown punted five times for an average of 47.6 yards per punt. Three of his punts went 50 yards or longer (long of 58), and three were pinned inside the 20.

(Feature image credit: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss)