Through the Lens: Ole Miss Makes Bittersweet Memories at Allstate Sugar Bowl

The Ole Miss Rebels lost to the Baylor Bears 21-7 on New Year's Day, but the strong 2021 season is worth remembering.

Carleigh Holt Harbin | Jan 4, 2022

The Sugar Bowl outcome was not in favor of Ole Miss, but it was a bittersweet end to its best football season since 2015.

Ole Miss was hopeful to make history with this game by getting a Sugar Bowl victory along with their record-setting 10-win regular season. Should Ole Miss have knocked off Baylor, it would have also been its first 11-win season in school history. Unfortunately for the Rebels, they had some unforeseeable circumstances in this game that they could not overcome.

While I did not make the trip to New Orleans personally, plenty of photographers were able to capture the moments as they unfolded on Jan. 1.

After the announcement of Matt Corral's intention to play in the Sugar Bowl, Ole Miss fans were eager to see their quarterback one final time in a Rebel uniform. In the first quarter of the game, Corral had an injury that resulted in a sprained ankle, and backup quarterback Luke Altmyer went the rest of the way in Corral's place.

Altmyer had a role to play that not many freshmen get the opportunity to have. There was pressure on Altmyer's shoulders as he played in his first bowl game as quarterback, and, like many talented quarterbacks early in their careers, made some successful moves and costly moves for the Rebels.

The Ole Miss offense was unable to move the ball enough after Corral's injury to pull out a win despite one of the better efforts from the Rebel defense on the season.

After the game, several players announced that it was their last time in a Rebel uniform due to exhausting their eligibility, entering the transfer portal or declaring for the NFL Draft. Now, Ole Miss shifts its focus to 2022 and finding a new quarterback in Corral's stead, potentially the young Altmyer.