Ole Miss is trying to make the difficult leap from mediocrity to something better in the SEC while Boise State hopes to recapture the magic that once made it celebrated BCS busters.
It took more than three quarters, but the Rebels finally showed why this could be the year they break through.
The Rebels overwhelmed the Broncos late for a 35-13 victory in a Chick-fil-A Kickoff game Thursday. Ole Miss senior quarterback Bo Wallace tossed three of his four touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to help the 18th-ranked Rebels avoid the upset in front of 32,823 spectators at the Georgia Dome.
Ole Miss (1-0) overcame poor execution that included three interceptions by Wallace and 14 team penalties, including eight false starts.
“Awful, hard to watch for 2 ½ quarters and then got in a decent rhythm the last part of the game,” Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said of his offense. “Found a way to score enough to win, so give them credit for that. We could never get in sync because we were always behind the chain (withpenalties).”
The Broncos (0-1) weren’t much sharper, but they trailed just 7-6 when Wallace threw touchdown passes on three consecutive attempts to put them away.
Wallace’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Laquon Treadwell with 12:26 to play gave Ole Miss a 14-6 lead. Ole Miss defensive back Tony Conner ended Boise State’s ensuing possession with an interception at the Broncos’ 40-yard line, and after an Ole Miss run on first down, Wallace passed to Quincy Adeboyejo for a 31-yard touchdown and 21-6 advantage.
After Ole Miss forced a punt, Wallace threw his third consecutive pass for a touchdown. Cody Core caught a short pass and then broke away from defenders for a 76-yard score that pushed the lead to 28-6.
Wallace, the SEC’s leading reurning passer, finished 25-of-36 for 387 yards. Through three quarters Wallace was 19-for-29 for 212 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.
“He’s our guy but he did some things that he would tell you, two of (the interceptions) were not even part of his progression, not a part of the route,” Freeze said. “I don’t know if he’s pressing too hard with so much (pressure). How many times has it been asked: ‘How is Bo Wallace? What’s he going to do?’ He wants to do so well and have such a great year, and we were always behind the chains so maybe he was pressing.”
The victory allowed the Rebels to take some momentum into their SEC opener at Vanderbilt on Sept. 6. Ole Miss finished fifth in the SEC West in 2012 and 2013, but entered this season expecting their young talent to make a big leap.
According to 247Sports.com, Ole Miss had the No. 15 class nationally in 2014, No. 8 in 2013 and No. 20 in 2011. The 2013 class included Grayson High defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s all-classes player the year.
Judging by the season opener, it may take more time for that talent to mature, especially on offense. But Wallace, the SEC’s leading returning passer, also had a rough game before his strong finish.
Wallace staked the Rebels to a 7-0 lead with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Core in the first quarter. But all three of his interceptions came before halftime, including one in Boise State’s end zone. In 2013 Wallace had 10 interceptions among 437 passing attempts.
Wallace found his groove late to earn the victory. On the second touchdown drive he was 4-for-5 for 64 yards and also ran for a 10-yard gain, and then capped his night with touchdown passes on his next two attempts.
Neither team could establish offensive rhythm early because of sloppy play. The teams combined for six turnovers and 14 penalties for 88 yards in the first half; Ole Miss had seven false-start penalties, and Boise State was called for delay of game twice.
The seven total interceptions broke the previous Kickoff game record of four set by Tennessee and N.C. State in 2012.Wallace and Hedrick each had three interceptions in the first half, with both players throwing a pick in the end zone to wipe out prime scoring chances.
While the Rebels’ offense sputtered for much of the night, the defense delivered several big hits and twice kept the Broncos out of the end zone when they got close in the first half.
Boise State safety Jeremy Ioane intercepted Wallace’s pass to set up the Broncos at their 46-yard line. Jay Ajayi’s 32-yard catch-and-run from Grant Hedrick on the next play moved the ball to the Ole Miss 27-yard line and, two plays later, Hedrick passed to Matt Miller for 22 yards to the eight-yard line.
Ole Miss linebacker Serderius Bryant was called for a personal foul on a hit to Hedrick’s head and ejected from the game for targeting to make it first-and-goal at the four-yard line. The Broncos caught a break when they recovered Ajayi’s fumbled on first down, but Ole Miss stopped Hedrick’s run on second down and pressured him into a poor third-down throw that Senquez Golson intercepted in the end zone.
The Rebels, buoyed by the goal-line stand, finally got their offense on track. Wallace’s 30-yard touchdown pass to Core capped a nine-play, 80-yard drive that was kept alive by Jeremy Liggins’ plunge on fourth-and-one at the Boise State 46-yard line.
Ole Miss’ defense stiffened again when the Broncos threatened to score a touchdown following Wallace’s second interception in the second quarter.
Boise State moved 72 yards in nine plays to earn a first-and-goal at the one-yard line. The Rebels stopped Ajayi on three consecutive runs and Boise State settled for a field goal that cut the lead to 7-3.
“We worked to get all that way down there, you’ve got to be able to punch it in,” Boise State coach Bryan Harsin said. “We weren’t good enough tonight to get that done.”
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