A Year in Review: Top 5 Moments of Ole Miss Football's Magical Season

Here are the top five moments from the Ole Miss Rebels' magical 2023 season.

The Ole Miss Rebels are fresh off a dominating win in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl over the Penn State Nittany Lions, capping off the first 11-win season in school history.

With the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams in 2024, the Rebels are now a certified contender to reach that field next season, especially considering the returning and incoming talent in Oxford.

With that in mind (and to ring in the New Year) what are the top five moments from the 2023 Ole Miss football season? The best stab at that list from The Grove Report can be found below.

5. Egg Bowl Provides Another 10-Win Season

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Ole Miss finished the year with 11 wins, but taking down Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl gave the Rebels win No. 10 on the year, the second time that feat has been achieved under head coach Lane Kiffin. It also made Kiffin 3-1 in that rivalry series since he arrived in Oxford.

4. Taking Down Hugh Freeze on The Plains

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Ole Miss has won back-to-back games over Auburn for the first time since 1951-52, and it took down a former head coach in the process in 2023.

For some Rebels fans, this win may have been one of the sweetest of the season as they came out on top of Hugh Freeze in what will become a relatively-frequent conference matchup as long as he remains on The Plains.

3. Blocked! Rebels Take Down Texas A&M With Blocked FG

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In another instance of a close-call win for the Rebels, they had to wait until the final whistle to claim a victory over Texas A&M prior to the firing of Jimbo Fisher in College Station. Ole Miss held a three-point lead late in the fourth quarter, and a blocked field goal by defender Zxavian Harris as time expired gave the Rebels the win at home.

Blazingly Bright Future Awaits Ole Miss Following Historic Peach Bowl Win

2. Thrilling Win in Magnolia Bowl Sets Tone For 2023 Season

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This has a legitimate case for Game of the Year in college football. The Rebels battled through adversity to claim a 55-49 win over LSU in Oxford, complete with a deep heave from Tigers quarterback Jayden Daniels that fell incomplete as time expired.

After this win, Ole Miss found its mojo in what was a legitimate turning point in the 2023 season. Had the Rebels lost, they would have dropped back-to-back games after having fallen against Alabama the week prior. Instead, the Rebels secured a much-needed win in dramatic fashion, and that likely helped propel them to bigger success down the road.

1. Peach Bowl Win vs. Penn State Makes School History

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The LSU game was huge for the Rebels in multiple aspects, but no win on the calendar was as big as what Ole Miss accomplished on Saturday in Atlanta. A victory in a New Year's Six bowl to secure 11 wins sets the tone for the Rebels entering a critical 2024 season where every goal is in front of them.

If next season goes well, everyone will look back at the 2023 Peach Bowl as the time when that success began.