A coming out party for another Kelly in the Outback Bowl

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Casey Kelly stands in the end zone with the football after scoring his first collegiate touchdown in the Outback Bowl. (Photo: Josh McCoy / Ole Miss Athletics)

Redshirt freshman tight end Casey Kelly is a walk-on player from Niagara Falls, N.Y. If the last name of Kelly and Niagara Falls is a familiar combination to Ole Miss fans, well, it should be. Casey Kelly is the younger brother of former Ole Miss star quarterback Chad Kelly.

And Casey Kelly had himself a day Saturday in the Rebels 26-20 Outback Bowl victory over the 11th-ranked Indiana Hoosiers.

Kelly, filling in for the opted-out Kenny Yeboah, caught six passes for 49 yards and touchdown and did yeoman's work in the blocking game, aiding Ole Miss to victory.

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin said Kelly's performance Saturday makes him feel better about the Rebels' tight end position moving ahead.

"It does," Kiffin said, "with guys stepping up. Casey has done a good job. We told these younger guys, 'Alright, you're really good players, you just haven't had opportunities to play because there are guys in front of you.' It's really good to see guys stepping up."

Kelly got open in the end zone with seven minutes and 17 seconds remaining in the second quarter for the game's first touchdown. It was a five-yard pass from Matt Corral. All six of Kelly's receptions came in the first half.

"These are guys who haven't played a lot...all of them want to play more, and now they get a chance to play and made plays today," said Kiffin. "It was awesome to see."

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Big brother, Chad Kelly, wearing Casey Kelly's jersey after the Outback Bowl. (Photo: OMA)
Corral praised Kelly for his efforts in the postgame.

"Casey is a hard worker," said Corral. "He shows it. He's always asking questions, always locked in, doesn't mess around a lot, really. He's a serious person. I trusted him just on how he prepares for a game. In practice, he's always asking me questions on certain routes and what am I looking at. I just know that he's always locked in and he's always a hard worker. That really helped with the trust out there. I couldn't think about if I were going to trust him or not. I was just going to give them a shot and let them play."

The 6-3, 250-pound Kelly walked on with the Rebels prior to the 2019 season.

SOURCE: Johnson, David. "A coming out party for another Kelly in the Outback Bowl." OMSpirit.com, 2 January 2021, https://247sports.com/college/ole-miss/Article/A-coming-out-party-for-another-Kelly-in-the-Outback-Bowl-158382333/