Ad Disclosure
If you wanted great bowl games on New Year’s Day, forget it. It didn’t happen Friday. But great performances? Magic memories? Yeah, we’ve got that covered.
None may have been any more enjoyable that Ole Miss’ 48-20 rout of Oklahoma State Friday night in the Sugar Bowl. It put a big bold exclamation point on a special season for the Rebels, who finished 10-3 with double-digit wins for the first time since 2003.
And it was quarterback Chad Kelly who led the way. He’s had a special season in his first year at Oxford and no one had more fun than he did Friday night. He threw for 302 yards and four touchdowns, and he did it laughing and joking and smiling the whole time.
It was that much fun.
It was also record-setting. As his season yardage totals continued to grow, he passed SEC legends Tim Tebow, Cam Newton and Dak Prescott along the way. Kelly threw for 4,042 yards on the season and ran for another 500. (He had 302 passing and 73 rushing Friday.)
His 4,542 total yards are the most in SEC history outside of Johnny Manziel’s two historic years at Texas A&M.
The win washed out that sour taste from last year’s bowl game, when the Rebs got trounced 42-3 by TCU. They vowed to not let that happen again, and it showed.
“We were on each other all week and it showed tonight,” said Ole Miss wide receiver Laquon Treadwell, who caught three of Kelly’s four touchdown passes said. “We really wanted this game.”
Interceptions have been an issue at times this year with Kelly, and that probably comes from inexperience. But getting over them quickly is also a familiar trait.
He did it again Friday night.
He threw a bad pick on the first possession, lofting a bomb over the middle to Laquon Treadwell, who was double covered. It was his first interception since Halloween, a span of 106 throws.
It bothered him all of about a half second. Then he got blazing hot, finishing the first half with 251 yards passing and three touchdowns as Ole Miss roared out to a 34-6 halftime lead. The lead grew to 35 a bit later.
Throwing for more than 300 yards has become a norm for Kelly. This was the eighth time this season that he topped the mark. Afterward, he enjoyed the moment with his coach, Hugh Freeze, who has stuck by him through the good times and the bad – and there’s been plenty of both – in their 12 months together.
“He’s like another father to me. He believed in me,” said Kelly, who matriculated to Ole Miss after stops at Clemson and a junior college. “He had us really ready tonight. He puts us in great positions to succeed.
It’s been quite the memorable first season for Kelly, with some dramatic highs with a few lows thrown in.
Nothing tops the win over Alabama, of course, especially after seeing what we’ve seen since that September night. There’s no doubt Alabama is the best team in the country, but Kelly carved hem apart that night in a 43-37 win. Kelly threw for 341 yards and three touchdowns in the big upset.
And Kelly deserves kudos for finishing the season so well after that heartbreaking shootout with Brandon Allen and Arkansas. He was great in closing out the season with big wins over LSU and Mississippi State.
There were low points too, of course. The bad loss at Florida was followed by a rough day at Memphis and an upset loss to the Tigers.
But that’s what has been impressive about Kelly. He’s resilient. He lets nothing bother him.
He battles and moves on. It runs in the family. His uncle is Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly, a four-time Super Bowl participant and cancer survivor.
Jim Kelly approves of Chad Kelly's 4th TD pass. #SugarBowl pic.twitter.com/H9cZSYAT5Y
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) January 2, 2016
With the 2015 season in the books, it’s hard to not look ahead. There’s a chance Kelly could go pro. He’s certainly shown a lot this season, but this is, after all, just his first full season of top-level college football.
There’s been some concern among Ole Miss fans that it might be 50/50 whether Kelly stays or goes. But all the little signs Friday night pointed to him staying. He said he wants to talk it over with his family but “would love to come back to this university for my senior year.”
Chad Kelly said he needs to speak w his family but “I would love to come back to this university for my senior year.”
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) January 2, 2016
That’s one encouraging hint. This was another. During the trophy presentation after the game, Kelly begged Treadwell to stick around for another season.
“One more year!” he shouted, stretching out the word “year” for several seconds.
Treadwell is almost surely gone, but Kelly wouldn’t be asking him to stay if he wasn’t going to stay.
So we’ll have to wait and see on his decision. But Rebels fans are all on the same page.
“One more year!”
Chad Kelly's message to Laquon https://t.co/Bm35x4NdA9
— Not Ole Miss Problems (@OleMissNoProb) January 2, 2016
Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist and author who is covering SEC football for Saturday Down South.
