Fans gather in Atlanta for annual Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl

ATLANTA — Thousands of fans have flocked to Atlanta for the Ole Miss Rebels to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions in the 2023 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

Channel 2′s Justin Carter was at the Georgia World Congress Center on Saturday morning where fans were showing their spirit before heading over to Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the game.

Carter said he’d never seen so much energy at 9 a.m.

“We are Penn State! We are Penn State!” fans were chanting as he arrived.

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Nittany Lions fans are hoping to claw their way to victory, though it won’t be easy against those Rebels.

“Hotty toddy, gosh almighty, who the hell are we? Hey! Flim flam, bim bam, Ole Miss, by damn! Woo!” Rebels fans cheered.

Austin Bullington spent years on the Ole Miss cheerleading team and said this year’s game will be a different experience since he just graduated.

“There was no shot I was gonna miss today, huge game obviously,” Bullington said. “Gonna see them win today.”

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Sparky Vandzura says not so fast. He drove all the way from Doylestown, Pennsylvania to Atlanta for the game.

“12.62 hours, I was awake the entire time driving,” he said. “A lot of first-time experiences, been to the Rose Bowl, been to the Orange Bowl, been to the Outback Bowl.”

The Baldassarre family from South Carolina is riding the same Penn State wave.

“It’s a big family as you see with fan fest and a lot of events,” Marco Baldassarre said. “We harbor all of that spirit and it’s just thrilling really.”

Saturday marks the first time the two teams are meeting on the football field.

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