Ole Miss Football: Recapping the Rebels' Spring Game

New Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze had a lot of questions to answer in his first spring in Oxford, and one was answered at the Grove Bowl—even though he may not have officially said so yet.

The quarterback position has been up for grabs this spring, but Bo Wallace grabbed control of the race Saturday afternoon.

Wallace transferred from East Mississippi Community College after spending a redshirt year at Arkansas State, where Freeze was offensive coordinator at the time. He completed 16-of-26 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns on Saturday, leading the Red team to a 24-23 win over the Blue team.

Quarterback Barry Brunetti completed 4-of-10 passes for 62 yards for the Blue team and was sacked four times. Zack Stoudt—the third primary competitor in the three-man quarterback competition—didn't play due to a back injury.

Freeze wasn't willing to name Wallace the starter after the game, stating:

"

I thought Bo had the best day.  I thought he functioned very well and kept us on schedule for the most part.  Barry had some explosive plays too, and they are a good combination.  I think it is too early to tell who is going to be the starter.  They are still learning the offense and I think it would be unfair to say anything about that until the fall.

"

He may not be willing to name a starter, but it's clear that Wallace has a leg up on the competition. Unless something drastic happens, expect to see Wallace out there when toe meets leather for the Rebels on September 1 vs. Central Arkansas.

Offensive line was an issue for the Rebels this spring, and that remains the case following the spring game. With two starting tackles gone, the offense was charged with replacing both bookends while also switching from a pro-style offense to the spread offense. Wallace and Brunetti were sacked a total of seven times in the Grove Bowl, so that transition remains a work in progress.

Defensively, the star of the game was linebacker-turned-defensive end C.J. Johnson. Johnson recorded eight tackles, one sack and 2.5 tackles-for-loss on the afternoon.

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