Ole Miss headed to Jacksonville, Florida to take on Duke in TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss, fresh off a No. 14 ranking in the College Football Playoff Top 25 released today, is headed to Jacksonville, Florida to the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl to play Duke.
The 80th annual Gator Bowl game will be played on January 2, 2025 with kickoff set for 6:30 p.m. CT.
Get ready for a historic night under the lights!
The 80th Annual TaxSlayer Gator Bowl will feature @DukeFOOTBALL vs @OleMissFB facing off on January 2nd at 7:30 PM!
Tickets on-sale now on @Ticketmaster at https://t.co/2jExCXykPn pic.twitter.com/u9QBdxITAv
— TaxSlayer Gator Bowl (@taxslayerbowl) December 8, 2024
About Duke
This is the third straight bowl appearance for the Blue Devils and head coach Manny Diaz. Last year, interim head coach Trooper Taylor led his team to a 17-10 defeat of Troy in the Birmingham Bowl, and Duke took down UCF 30-13 in the 2022 Military Bowl.
This season, the Blue Devils are coming off of three consecutive wins to close out a 9-3 regular season. They began the year Duke 5-0, with a comeback win over North Carolina. Then, Diaz’s team lost three of its next four, including a heartbreaking one-point loss at home against SMU and a 53-31 rout at Miami.
However, the Blue Devils finished strong, playing a complete game on the road against N.C. State, and then winning two last-second games against Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.
Duke’s defense has been strong this season, as the Blue Devils have been sitting close to the top of the country all season in both tackles for loss and sacks. In addition, the back end has been especially stout, leading the ACC in passing yards allowed per game.
What’s Next?
Stay tuned to The Rebel Walk as we keep you posted on all the lastest regarding the Rebels’ bowl game.
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn's love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
