The Penn State football team is preparing for its New Year’s Six matchup with Ole Miss on December 30th. The game will be interesting as some Nittany Lions have opted out while others have chosen to play in the Peach Bowl. On the Ole Miss side, there have not been any critical players out for the bowl game until last night. When it was announced that Rebels quarterback Spencer Sanders was ineligible for the Peach Bowl.
Ole Miss quarterback ruled ineligible for Peach Bowl vs. Penn State
Spencer Sanders is the backup quarterback to starter Jaxon Dart. It has been that way all season in one of the strangest decisions of the offseason. Sanders entered the transfer portal choosing to leave Oklahoma State where he was the starter. The decision was odd to transfer to a school such as Ole Miss who already had an established starter. Regardless, Sanders pulled the trigger and did not win the starting job. Now, it has been announced by Brad Logan of Inside the Rebels (the Ole Miss 247sports page) that Spencer Sanders cannot participate in the Peach Bowl against the Penn State football team.
In the article written by Tyler Komis he stated that, “Senior Ole Miss backup quarterback Spencer Sanders has played his last down of college football. As first reported by the Rebel Yell Hotline, and now confirmed by Inside the Rebels, Sanders has been deemed academically ineligible to participate in Ole Miss’ 2023 season finale in Atlanta for the Peach Bowl. His attention will now likely shift to pursuing his NFL dreams.”
How does this impact Penn State?
You might be thinking, it’s the backup quarterback what difference does it make? Jaxon Dart has taken most of the snaps for this team in 2023. But if anything was to happen to him during the Peach Bowl it would be former LSU QB Will Howard that would step in. Howard has only attempted 4 passes this season.
If Dart has to exit the game on December 30th, for any reason Ole Miss will lose significant experience against the Nittany Lions.
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