JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Ole Miss showed up.
Literally and figuratively, Ole Miss showed up.
The 16th-ranked Rebels, still more than a bit disappointed after missing the College Football Playoff, didn’t opt out of Thursday’s TaxSlayer Gator Bowl.
Far from it, actually.
Instead, the Rebels’ stars played with energy and emotion, leading the way to an easy 52-20 win over Duke.
With the win, Ole Miss finished the season 10-3, marking the second season in a row — and the third in the last four years — that the Rebels have won 10 games or more in a season. With the consecutive 10-win seasons — Ole Miss was 11-2 in 2023 — Lane Kiffin joined Nick Saban, Les Miles, Ed Oregon, Brian Kelly, Gary Pinkel, Dan Mullen, Kirby Smart, Steve Spurrier and Elias Drinkwitz as Southeastern Conference coaches who won 10 games or more in back-to-back seasons.
Speaking of the SEC, at least Ole Miss can finish the season with its head held high. It hasn’t been a banner postseason for a league that loves to brag about its dominance.
Kiffin certainly did his share of lobbying between the Egg Bowl win over Mississippi State on Black Friday and the immediate aftermath of the CFP putting just three league teams into the 12-team field.
Earlier Thursday, Georgia was whacked by Notre Dame in New Orleans, leaving just Texas in the national semifinals. South Carolina lost to Illinois in the Citrus Bowl. Alabama lost to Michigan in the Reliaquest Bowl. Sure, the SEC got some bowl wins — Arkansas, LSU, Florida and Missouri won lesser bowls over the past week — but for the most part, it’s been an underwhelming performance.
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Ole Miss did its part, claiming an early 17-0 lead and then cruising to a win. Duke, with quarterback Henry Belin IV making his first start of the season, never really had a chance.
It wasn’t a perfect performance, but that wasn’t in the cards.
The Rebels wanted to ring in the New Year in Atlanta or New Orleans. Nothing against Jacksonville, which was a fine host, but there just wasn’t a lot of energy around Thursday’s game.
Ole Miss had some practices at North Florida. There was precious little media attention — ESPN’s crew, per Taylor McGregor, got into Jacksonville late Wednesday night and hurriedly prepared for Thursday’s broadcast — and EverBank Stadium was mostly empty.
Still, Ole Miss showed up, took care of business and finished the season the right way. The Rebels rolled up 589 yards of offense and held Duke to just 280 yards, including just 44 on the ground.
Now the focus turns to the 2025 season. A ton of talent — experienced, bought-in talent — leaves the roster and must be replaced. The Rebels spent most of December working the transfer portal, and they’ll jump right back into it this weekend. Ole Miss is still searching for help and depth at almost every position on the roster.
The expectations, however, don’t change. That’s the standard Kiffin has set in Oxford. The Rebels’ goal this season — make the CFP — will be the same one they’ll set in 2025 and moving forward.
The Rebels fell just short this season, but they didn’t linger in their collective disappointment. Instead, they showed up in Jacksonville and dominated.
On a week when many of their SEC brethren went into the offseason with questions to answer, Ole Miss got credit for finishing its job.
Sometimes, just showing up is the assignment. On Thursday night, as a sleepy Gator Bowl wound to a close, Ole Miss passed that test with flying colors.
