High-powered Ole Miss, Duke to meet in 80th game

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Duke and Ole Miss will meet in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, a solid ACC-SEC matchup that pits a pair of nine-win teams in the 80th clash at EverBank Stadium.

The big draw for local fans is the offense of Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss and the record-passing attack of Duke and Maalik Murphy.

The game is Jan. 2 at 7:30 p.m.

“It’s a tremendous honor to host the 80th annual TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. As the 6th oldest bowl game in the nation, writing the 80th chapter of this iconic game carries a lot of pride for our membership and our community,” said Andy King, the chairman of the Gator Bowk. “The opportunity to host two top-tier teams in Duke vs Ole Miss as well as their players, coaches and fans to our city for a great week of activities celebrating both programs’ successful seasons.”

Ole Miss (9-3) was an early season contender for the College Football Playoff before a 24-17 loss to Florida. The Rebels’ two other losses were close, 20-17 to Kentucky and then at LSU in OT (29-26). Quarterback Jaxson Dart has thrived in Kiffin’s offense, passing for 3,875 yards and 25 touchdowns. Receivers Tre Harris (1,030 receiving yards, 7 TDs) and Jordan Watkins (726 receiving yards, 7 TDs) have hauled in more than half of the team’s touchdowns.

It’s the fourth straight bowl for the Rebels under Kiffin. They last played in the Gator Bowl in 1990, a 35-3 loss to Michigan. They also played Florida in the Gator in 1958 and Auburn in 1970 here.

The Blue Devils have a strong passing attack with Texas transfer Maalik Murphy setting a program record with 26 touchdown passes. Receivers Jordan Moore (798 receiving yards, 7 TDs) and Eli Pancol (714 receiving yards, 9 TDs) are Murphy’s top two targets. Murphy has thrown for 2,933 yards. The Blue Devils started 5-0 before a loss to Georgia Tech. They also lost to SMU (28-27) and Miami (53-31) but ended on a three-game winning streak.

Duke (9-3) has never been to the Gator Bowl and enjoyed a strong season under head coach Manny Diaz. It just lost running backs coach Willie Simmons, who was announced as the new head coach of Florida International on Saturday. The Blue Devils have won five straight bowl games, including a 17-10 win over Troy in last year’s Birmingham Bowl. The last time Duke played an SEC team in a bowl was Texas A&M in the 2013 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.