Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace
By Brett Hudson
Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze admits he did not know much about his first Rebels team when he stood at SEC Media Days in 2012 before his first season.
He simply wanted 60 minutes of effort and pride out of his players.
Now the entire nation knows what he has: a team on the rise and the talent to take it higher after a top-rated recruiting class. But not without the rumors, as skepticism runs wild around the quick turnaround in Oxford.
“Obviously you get tired of hearing some of the same things over and over,” Freeze said. “Certainly we’re human. If mistakes are made, we’ll own up to them immediately. It looks like it’s going to stay with us for a little while.”
Bo is (on the way) back
Ole Miss continues to get good news for the future, this time on the injury front, as starting quarterback Bo Wallace is coming along nicely after his shoulder injury that had him playing hurt in the Egg Bowl win over Mississippi State and BBVA Compass Bowl win over Pitt to end the 2012 season.
“He feels very good about where he’s at in his progress,” Freeze said. “They released him about four weeks ago to start tossing a little bit. Last week he began to throw full go.
“The NCAA gave us a waiver just for Dan to go out a certain number of times to make sure that his mechanics were solid. So, we hope we don’t see anything negative in the motion. Everyone that has seen him feels like he’s right on progress.”
Away from home
Home cooking will never be as sweet as it will be in October for the Rebels. Really, anything in Oxford, Miss., will be nice after having to play four of its first five games on the road to open the 2013 season.
Furthermore, of those four road games, three are against SEC opponents, including the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide, visiting Bryant-Denny Stadium for the second year in-a-row. The non-SEC opponent? The Texas Longhorns.
“Certainly I wish it wasn’t that way,” Freeze said. “It will be interesting, obviously. We’ve got to gear up to go on the road and play in some very difficult places against some very good football teams, but we’ll be excited about those challenges.”
For now, the Rebels can look forward to the season-opener, a Thursday night duel with Vanderbilt on the road, that has the makings of a statement game for the winner.
“The game in Nashville is going to be a difficult task because of the job that James Franklin and his staff has done,” Freeze said. “Am I crazy to open up with a conference opponent? That’s probably not what you would always desire, but it’s a great opportunity to get us on national TV, and I’m always in favor of that.”
