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A game-by-game look at Bo Wallace and his two alter egos, Dr. Bo and Mr. Pick.
Bo Wallace and Ole Miss struggled to get past a fiesty Memphis team, who hung with the Rebels for the majority of the game. Ole Miss was able to pull away in the fourth quarter, but it certainly wasn’t the performance they were hoping to put on the field a week before a showdown with Alabama. It is possible the Rebels were looking forward to this matchup a little, causing the mini let down against Memphis. A win is a win, but I have to believe they would have liked to have a stronger looking team that what we saw on Saturday.
The two most electric plays of the game happened in the first 3 minutes. In what was maybe the only appearance of “Dr. Bo” against Memphis, Wallace hit Laquon Treadwell for 63-yard touchdown on Ole Miss’ second possession of the game. Then things got, well, not so good for the Wallace alter egos. An argument can certainly be made that this was Mr. Pick’s worst game of the year.
Quick aside here, on the ensuing kickoff, a brawl between the two teams was ignited after your classic “is he down?” no whistle, “I guess I’ll tackle him again” whistle “now, I’ll body slam him” altercation. While fights are never a good thing(except they are sometimes fun to watch), my favorite part of the whole melee is that the kicker, Gary Wunderlich, was thrown out of the game for fighting. Upon closer inspection, he was actually not the player throwing punches, in fact, it looked like he didn’t really want to be in the mix at all. Regardless, that happened, and was one of the more entertaining portions of the game.
On the next Ole Miss possession, Wallace was moving the offense down the field nicely, right up until they got near the red zone. Then, on a play action pass where he exhibited some Doctorly footwork, Wallace stepped into a throw, sending it directly into the hands of a Memphis defender, who apparently Mr. Pick never saw. It was definitely a good defensive play, but upon watching the replay, it certainly looks like Wallace isn’t aware of the defender, allowing him to easily step in front of the receiver and complete the interception.
As the half was coming to a close, Ole Miss was in the midst of a great drive, poised to build their lead going into the half, until Mr. Pick struck again, misreading the defense and lofting the ball over the head of his receiver and into the hands of the defender. At first glance it appeared that maybe the receiver was at fault, but the receiver actually read the defense correctly, seeing that the DB was over the top of the play, so he cut off the route and turned around to receive the ball right at the first down marker. However, Wallace did not see the same thing, which he should have been able to see pre-snap that the safety was in a position where the throw up the sideline would not be there. This was a devastating turnover. Anytime you are that close to the goal line at the end of the half you have to get points on the board. This being the second time Ole Miss was near the red zone coming away with an interception calls Wallace’s decision making into question.
On this first possession of the second half for Ole Miss, Wallace committed yet another turnover. Every time the Rebels seemed to get some momentum moving, Wallace has given the ball away. In this particular situation, he was not hit, there wasn’t a strip, he simply was holding to ball away from his body and dropped it. To be an elite QB, or his alter ego Dr. Bo, you have to be able to take better care of the ball. These types of mistakes are going to cost Ole Miss some games, there is no question about that.
Ole Miss was able to wear down Memphis in the second half, eventually pulling away for the victory, but after this game there are more questions than answers as the Rebels gear up for Alabama. This team is better than they were last year, but remember they were unable to score a single point against the Crimson Tide last year, when Wallace said he thought they would be able to put points on the board.
There are many things Ole Miss will need to clean up, and it starts with Wallace. Through 5 weeks of the season, Bo Wallace ranks 3rd worst in the conference for giveaways. Oh yeah, that is a team stat. Mr. Pick himself is only better than LSU(8 turnovers) and Vanderbilt(14 turnovers). Wallace has 7.
This performance was undoubtedly a Mr. Pick outing, and Ole Miss fans had better hope that Dr. Bo can provide the inverse against Alabama, otherwise things could get ugly. Memphis is the best team Ole Miss has faced to date, and Wallace played poorly from whistle to whistle.
Mr. Pick has some work to do in the coming days before suiting up Saturday. He’ll need to figure out a way to keep that side of his makeup hidden and let Dr. Bo come out if the Rebels are going to stay unbeaten.
Worked for the internet in Los Angeles before being lured back to Florida by SEC football and the promise of a bourbon bar. When he's not internetting or watching football, he's probably out giving himself 4-footers on the golf course.