TAMPA, Fla. – Even before Ole Miss took the field for Saturday’s Outback Bowl, the Rebels were feeling good about the direction of the program.
Coach Lane Kiffin was rewarded with a new contract despite having been at the school only one season – and the fact that there was no guarantee the Ole Miss defense, statistically one of the worst in the nation, would be able to slow Indiana enough to ensure the Rebels’ first nonlosing record since the 2017 season.
“It’s really only up from here,” quarterback Matt Corral said Saturday after throwing for 342 yards and two touchdowns to pace a 26-20 victory that ruined the finish to a surprising breakout season for the Hoosiers, who contended in the Big Ten and were No. 11 in the final College Football Playoff rankings.
Corral’s 3-yard pass to Dontario Drummond put the Rebels (5-5) ahead for good with 4:12 remaining. The Ole Miss defense, which allowed per-game averages of 535.7 yards and 40.3 points during an all-Southeastern Conference regular season, came through with one more stop to clinch the school’s first postseason win since the 2016 Sugar Bowl against Oklahoma State.
“We talked about it all week. We’re going to need that,” Kiffin said. “We were not going to go score 60 points. … We knew it was going to be a struggle, and it was great to see the defense play like they did.”