Mississippi wide receiver Evan Engram runs the ball after catching a pass one handed from Wallace during an NCAA college football game against Mississippi State in Oxford, Miss., Saturday, Nov. 29, 2014. Mississippi won 31-17. (Photo | Cady Herring)
Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze walked into the team meeting room at the Manning Center Saturday with a wide smile. His 18th-ranked Rebels had just defeated 4th-ranked in-state rival Mississippi State.
With a grin on his face and Gatorade dripping from his white Ole Miss pullover, Freeze was greeted with cheers from visitors and close friends who attended the press conference.
While answering one of the questions from a member of the media, there was a sudden gasp that seemed to be released in perfect harmony.
“There it is, baby,” yelled one spectator.
The Golden Egg trophy was brought into the room and placed next to the man who has brought two Egg Bowl victories to Oxford in his three years as head coach.
In a roller coaster of a season, including a victory over the number one team in the country, devastating injuries and heartbreaking losses, the Rebels put together an exclamation point to end their season with a 31-17 victory over Mississippi State.
In the first ranked matchup between both teams since 1999, the lower ranked Rebels upended the Bulldogs to cap off a 9-3 season, their best regular season record since 2003.
“It’s a great feeling to reclaim the pride of our program and win the Egg Bowl,” Freeze said. “It’s a priority we have every year. To get that done tonight, with facing some adversity, I’m so proud of our young men.
“We put everything in the trash in preparing for this one. We went into it with clear hearts, minds and just decided that we were going to go out and play hard. Our word for the week was ‘resolve.’ We played with great resolve for 60 minutes.”
On Thanksgiving Day last year, bragging rights were given to Mississippi State, as they won the Egg Bowl in overtime 17-10, thanks to a heroic performance from junior Bulldog quarterback Dak Prescott.
This year was a different story, as the landshark defense held Mississippi State to a season-low of 17 points, tying the same amount of points Mississippi State scored against the Rebels last season. But this time, it resulted in a win for the Rebels.
The Ole Miss defensive line seemed to get pressure in the opposing backfield almost every play, making Prescott run for his life. Prescott, once a Heisman hopeful, finished 22-37 passing for 282 yards and one touchdown.
The defense also held Prescott in check with running the ball, where he finished with 24 carries for 48 yards and one score. It was the lowest average rushing attempt in a game all season for Prescott.
The Ole Miss defense arguably played their best game of the season, holding a Bulldog offense that averages over 37 points per game to only 17 points.
“They’re going to get some yards; they have all year. At the same time, I’m not surprised. We are the number one team in the country in scoring defense,” Freeze said. “We’ve been stingy with giving up points in the red zone. It was great to see, but I’m not really surprised. Matchups are critical. I liked our matchup with their front.”
On senior day, senior quarterback Bo Wallace gutted out a performance that will forever cement his name with the Ole Miss greats.
Wallace was kept out of practice all week with an injured right ankle, which he suffered in Ole Miss’s lost against Arkansas. Wallace played with a heavy amount of tape covering that ankle, and it was evident that Wallace was not at 100 percent and struggled to move and plant his throwing foot.
The numbers show Wallace was a sub-par with 13-30 passing, but he finished with a whopping 296 yards. It was a significant amount of yards, as big plays through the passing game set up many scoring opportunities for the Rebels.
This isn’t the first time that Wallace has played through injuries, however. An injury to his throwing shoulder slowed him down towards the back-end of last season.
Wallace is arguably the most criticized player on the team. Whether it’s the “good Bo, bad Bo” narrative describing his inconsistent performances or the slander he receives on the Internet, social media and from the press, Wallace has fought through it all and put together another satisfying win for his career.
“I’ve been thinking about this game since last year. Every single day, I’ve thought about this game. This game pushed me this offseason to work harder than I ever had. Looking back, I’m kind of thankful for that,” Wallace said. “It made me have a better season this year. That drove me every single day.”
In his final home game of his Ole Miss career, Wallace put forward a heroic effort and brought home the Golden Egg in what he called the most satisfying win of his career.
“It means everything. We had to have this game. I had to win this game,” Wallace said. “I didn’t practice much this week, but I could just tell that the way guys were preparing that we were going to put up a fight. Especially to keep them from going to the playoff, it just makes it even more special.”
With his performance against Mississippi State, Wallace eclipsed Eli Manning for the most total yards in Ole Miss history, adding more to his already historic legacy. As for the rest of his legacy, a win for Wallace against Ole Miss’ most hated rival meant everything.
“I had to win this game for what I want to be remembered for,” Wallace said.
An inconsistent running game plagued the Rebels at times during the season. A ground game that only averaged 167.7 yards per game this season ran for 205 yards Saturday.
Running backs junior Jaylen Walton and redshirt freshman Jordan Wilkins led the charge.
At the 2:39 mark in the third quarter with Ole Miss up 17-10, Walton took a stretch handoff from Wallace at their own nine-yard line and ran to the right side. He was immediately met by Bulldog defenders but broke numerous tackles, reversed fields and dashed for the 91-yard score to make the lead 24-10 in favor of the Rebels.
The play will forever live in Egg Bowl lore.
Walton finished the game with a career-high 148 yards on 14 carries.
The most surprising performance of the game came from Wilkins. Up 24-17 in the fourth quarter, Wilkins took a handoff from Wallace and took off for 41 yards, advancing to the Mississippi State 35-yard line. The next play, Wallace pitched it to Wilkins, and Wilkins threw a beautiful pass to junior wide receiver Cody Core for the 31-yard strike to make it 31-17 Ole Miss.
With the trick play working, the 14-point lead proved to be too much for the Bulldogs to overcome.
It was only the second throw of Wilkins’s career, but the throw secured the win. Wilkins laughed and said he can throw it better than any other of the running backs, and it may just be true.
“The play was supposed to be to (senior wide receiver) Vince (Sanders), and Vince got hurt. So, I was kind of screwed up at the timing of it,” Wilkins said about the play call for his throw. “As (Wallace) pitched it to me, the corner bit a little bit, and I saw Cody (Core) running open, so I just threw it.”
The two Memphis running backs shined bright on Saturday in the brightest of moments. The Memphis natives combined to score 19 of the 31 points scored on Saturday, including a field goal from freshman kicker Gary Wunderlich.
Recruiting throughout the city of Memphis is a big stomping ground for the Rebels. A large amount of recruiting is done throughout the area, and it’s an area Ole Miss looks to dominate all year round.
It proved to be successful in the game that means everything in the state of Mississippi.
“Memphis is important to us, obviously, and within recruiting, we consider it to be in-state, and those Memphis kids played extremely well tonight,” Freeze said.
The loss for Mississippi State knocks them out of the College Football Playoff hunt, and the loss to in-state rival Ole Miss makes it even tougher to swallow.
“This is as tough as it gets,” Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen said. “I do not care about the stakes. This game is for bragging rights in the state. It’s the most important game we play.”
With your rival coming to town, 21 seniors playing their last game at home and a year’s worth of bragging rights on the line, it was a perfect storm for the Ole Miss program and a satisfying way to end the regular season.
“For all the seniors, to see them take selfies in the locker room with the Egg Bowl trophy and rejoicing over what we consider to be, in year three, a solid year, we accomplished some good things in building this program back up,” Freeze said. “It’s a great night for The University of Mississippi.”
