Published April 17, 2012 - 10:37am
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Ole Miss has had a tough couple of years creating any kind of offense at the quarterback position since Jevan Snead left early to go on to be undrafted in the draft.
There are two top quarterback candidates right now, and neither player is the returning starter last year in Randall Mackey. Mackey has since been moved to wide receiver after he struggled last year to bust a grape at QB.
And, overall, this is a good move for Mackey and the team because what they need is playmaking ability on the edge.
The Rebs have a new coach, and a new offensive philosophy: score points. Houston Nutt had a tough time doing that with his players, and now new head coach Hugh Freeze will get his opportunity.
Barry Brunetti and Bo Wallace are battling out this spring for the starting duties in game one come September.
Brunetti, of course, is the dual-threat West Virginia transfer who came to Oxford last year, and he was eligible to play. But he just wasn’t ready mentally and physically to play in the SEC in any way, shape or form.
His counterpart, on the other hand, is former JUCO All-American transfer Bo Wallace. Wallace played at Arkansas State under Freeze for one year before leaving for JUCO. Freeze was the offensive coordinator at that time. Wallace is a great looking prospect, and he looks like he can make all the throws on the field.
Wallace seemed to be a shoo-in because of his size and experience in Freeze’s system. Although it seems like Brunetti has led most of the spring, Wallace had the better scrimmage this past Saturday. It’s a toss up as of right now with no clear leader at the position.
Both, however, combined for five touchdowns on the day in the scrimmage.
Wallace finished 10 of 23 passing for 113 yards and three touchdowns. Brunetti finished 12 of 17 for 119 yards and two touchdowns, but he threw two interceptions.
Competition usually brings out the best in players at this level, and Ole Miss certainly has competition at the position.
Both guys have the ability to lead the offense in a big way, but we are unsure of how each will react to stiff SEC competition.
Ole Miss’ offense will be better under Hugh Freeze…but it won’t matter who the starting QB might be, they’re still gonna struggle to win 4 or 5 games. That Reb D is atrocious!