Ole Miss Needs to Be Aggressive vs. Auburn, so "Good" Bo Wallace Better Show Up

It didn't take long after Ole Miss' 10-7 loss to LSU, tossing the Rebels from the short list of unbeaten teams, for quarterback Bo Wallace to say what needed to be fixed. 

With Auburn and its 39.3 points per game coming to Oxford on Saturday, the Rebels need to keep forcing turnovers on defense (they rank second nationally in that category). However, the defense can't do it alone, as it showed in the LSU loss. Wallace wants to see his offense open things up after totaling just 313 yards of offense and going 5-of-17 on third down last Saturday. From David Brandt of The Associated Press: 

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The gameplan is "on the coaches — what they call and things like that," Wallace said. "Hopefully we can be more aggressive this week, but I'm going to run the plays that are called. That's all I can do."

...

"A lot of times when we were throwing the ball it was third down," Wallace said. "It's easy (for the defense) when you know it's coming - 3rd and 9, 3rd and long."

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Play-calling is only part of the equation. Players have to execute as well. Behind a makeshift offensive line, Wallace struggled by going 14-of-33 last Saturday, averaging 5.3 yards per attempt. Ole Miss' controversial—if you want to call it that—final play against the Tigers, for example, had an opportunity to work. 

Rather than attempt a 47-yard field goal, the Rebels, with no timeouts, opted to try one more play to pick up some yards. As head coach Hugh Freeze explained, there were two options: Get a few yards and stop the clock—whether by running out of bounds or first down—or throw it into the stands without it being intentional grounding. The worst-case scenario, in theory, is that Ole Miss is right where they were before. 

"I thought we were plenty clear we were either going to take the flat throw or throw it out of bounds, and then try the field goal," Freeze said (via ESPN.com). "He must have felt like he had a shot at the touchdown play there. I wish I could do that over, for sure."

Jonathan Bachman/Associated Press

Throwing it into double coverage, which resulted in a game-sealing interception, is on Wallace. 

That brings up the "Good Bo Wallace" vs. "Bad Bo Wallace" debate.

Wallace plays fearless—give him that much—but it's also something by which Ole Miss will live and die. When Ole Miss' offense absolutely needs a play, Wallace is going to be the guy to make it happen. Conversely, there are going to be times when Wallace does something that makes you scratch your head. Sometimes, there are several of those instances in one game. 

Certainly, "Good Bo Wallace" has to show up against Auburn. If nothing else, the ability to move the offense could be on his shoulders again. The Rebels have not been a great running team and offensive line injuries haven't helped. As Hugh Kellenberger of The Clarion-Ledger writes, teams that have averaged fewer than four yards per carry (Ole Miss ranks 91st in the country at 3.87 yards per rush) haven't won the SEC in more than 10 years: 

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Coach Hugh Freeze believes that No. 7 Ole Miss does run the ball well enough to win a Southeastern Conference championship and compete for the College Football Playoff.

But actually doing so, without a dramatic upgrade in production over the season's final month, will require something that has not happened in the SEC in more than a decade. Not since 2002, when Georgia gained less than four yards per carry and was the league's champion.

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On the other side, Auburn is tied at No. 26 in the country in stopping the run by allowing just 3.37 yards per rush. To Wallace's credit, he may have a point that Ole Miss needs to be more unconventional against Auburn in hopes that it will open up the run—at least enough to have a semblance of balance. 

However it's sliced, Ole Miss as a team has to play better despite the fact that it's banged up on defense and along the offensive line. Wallace has had good games—251 yards and three touchdowns against Alabama, for example—and bad games against LSU and Boise State. 

If Ole Miss is going to upend Auburn, Wallace has to play smart. He's not going to change who he is as a quarterback, so basically, he has to have one of his better days. As it's already shown once, the Rebels defense can't win a game by itself. And Auburn isn't a team you want to fall behind against.

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com.