Evan Engram celebrates after scoring on a 64-yard pass during Saturday’s game against Southeast Missouri. Photo by Thomas Graning.
Ole Miss put its foot on the gas pedal early against Southeast Missouri Saturday night, and it paid off with a 31-13 victory. The Rebels (2-0, 1-0 SEC) recorded five straight scoring drives in the first half to establish a 31-0 lead and cruised to the win the rest of the game.
“We’re happy to be 2-0, come out of the game healthy and get a lot of kids in the game,” Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze said. “Those kids give a lot of effort practicing and preparing, and some playing time is good.”
Offensively for the Rebels, junior quarterback Bo Wallace led the way going 8-for-15 through the air for 188 yards and two long touchdowns.
“I thought he started a little slow, but he got explosive,” Freeze said. “He made some good decisions and good throws.”
Wallace quarterbacked three of the five scoring drives, while senior Barry Brunetti led the final two. Brunetti led the team with 111 rushing yards on 18 carries, including a touchdown.
“I was kind of just going off instinct,” Brunetti said about his running. “I was just trying to get in the open field as much as possible.”
Defensively, the Rebels were led by junior linebacker Serderius Bryant, who had 15 total tackles. Bryant got his first start of the year after sophomore linebacker Denzel Nkemdiche went down against Vanderbilt.
“The stat line doesn’t really matter to me,” Bryant said. “I am just glad we got the win.”
Ole Miss was also able to get a lot of new faces onto the field Saturday night after jumping out with the big lead early. Seven players made their debut in the red and blue, while many other second-team and third-team players got their first feel of extensive playing time in their careers.
However, Freeze said it wasn’t exactly what he was looking for.
“I’m disappointed in the passion we played with in the second half,” he said. “With the stretch of games we have coming up, that will not get it done. We are going to need those second- and third-string players before it’s all over. We have to expect more of ourselves and finish stronger.”
The Rebels will now travel to Austin, Texas, to take on the Texas Longhorns, who fell to BYU 40-21 and also dropped out of the top-25 rankings.
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