Bo Wallace Needs More Credit for Rebel's Current Success

When the Ole Miss Rebels recent success is discussed, pundits emphasize the signing of the 2013 recruiting class. But the seed for the “new normal” was planted the minute Bo Wallace choose to come to Ole Miss the year prior.

Watching the confetti fall from the roof of the Superdome after the Sugar Bowl victory for the Ole Miss Rebels over Oklahoma State is a memory forever engraved in the mind of fans. It was a culmination of four years of intense work by Coach Hugh Freeze and his coaching staff.

But what was missing from the celebration was the one person who may have started the Rebels on its path to greatness, Bo Wallace. While watching Chad Kelly fling the football all over the field, it is easy to forget just how vital Bo was to our resurgence.

Before Laquon Treadwell signed on as a top receiver. Before Robert Nkemdiche decided to sign with the “University of Ole Miss.” Before Laremy Tunsil, before Tony Conner, and before Evan Engram all joined the Ole Miss team, Bo Wallace was beginning the “new normal”.

Coach Freeze knew that in order to turn the program around from the horrid 2-10 season in 2011, he needed a quarterback that could run his system. So he called on someone he knew from his days at Arkansas State. Bo had transferred to East Mississippi Community College and was looking for an opportunity to play in the SEC.

Ole Miss was the perfect fit. He needed us and we needed him. During his first year he led the Rebels to a bowl victory in the BBVA Compass Bowl. He passed for nearly 3000 yards and 22 touchdowns for the season. The season included a 41-24 win over 24th ranked Mississippi State.

It was Bo that got the Rebels a 7-6 season that laid the groundwork for the seasons to follow. But even with his successes, many focused on his high number of interceptions. The national narrative of “Good Bo/Bad Bo” began to take root. The term became an unfair moniker that was used on every throw he made. It was worn out by broadcasters and talk show host.

But what is lost is that fact that Bo kept the Rebels in more games than he lost for them. He has been the leader for some of the most impressive wins in recent years. Let’s not forget during his junior year he led the Rebels to the University of Texas and walked out with a 44-23 win.

The win was significant because the year prior, Texas had come to Oxford and embarrassed the Rebels. During that same year he helped Ole Miss beat the number six team in the country, LSU 27-24.

But his tour de force happened in Oxford on October 4, 2014. There is no true Ole Miss fan that couldn’t tell you what they were doing on that day. Bo Wallace brought the Rebels back from a 14-3 halftime deficit. He threw three second-half touchdowns to pull off the upset of the number one team in the country, the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The ten yard pass from Wallace to Jaylen Walton created a roar in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium that was only rivaled by the roar heard after the Senquez Golson interception to clinch the game.

There was no better sight than to see the guy who was sometime vilified and other times underappreciated, ride off on the shoulders of the fans. Bo leading the team to that victory gave the Rebel players and their fans the belief that they could truly beat anybody. It planted a confidence in the team that they truly belonged in the national conversation.

Finishing his career with over 9500 passing yards made Ole Miss a destination that wide receivers could see themselves succeeding. He also proved that a Juco quarterback could come in and thrive. It opened the door for a player like Chad Kelly to commit to play.

They probably won’t change the speed limits to 14 on the campus to honor his jersey number. He may never get a building named after him. And he won’t be receiving a 2016 Sugar Bowl ring. But what Bo Wallace did for Ole Miss football has help create the “new normal”.

He started this successful run with the Rebels as real contenders. In 2012 he set in motion this year’s Sugar Bowl win.

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Bo Wallace Needs More Credit for Rebel’s Current Success

By K. L. Williams | Jul 29, 2016

When the Ole Miss Rebels recent success is discussed, pundits emphasize the signing of the 2013 recruiting class. But the seed for the “new normal” was planted the minute Bo Wallace choose to come to Ole Miss the year prior.