M S M 2 0 12 S P R I N G P R A CT I C E R E C A P
OLE MISS REBELS SPRING GRADE
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Photo by Greg Pevey, Mississippi Sports Magazine
By Jake Adams Contributing Writer
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s November 2011 and a season full of embarrassments came to a merciful close Ole Miss looked like a team that had been left for dead. The Rebels finished one of the worst seasons in the history of the school in the midst of a record-long 14-game SEC losing streak. Dead might be a stretch, but the program didn’t have much of a pulse. Enter one Hugh Freeze. The man doesn’t give a speech without a biblical reference or metaphor. In his opening press conference Freeze said Ole Miss had been wandering in the wilderness - a reference straight out of the Old Testament. Religiously speaking, Freeze would be the first tell you he believes in the resurrection of the dead. As the new head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels, he’s now tasked with leading one. This spring Freeze’s quest to breathe life into Ole Miss football began. In his brief career, Freeze has already developed a reputation for being a powerful motivator, and in April he put those skills to work trying to instill a new desire in his player. “I have one expectation for next year,” Freeze said at the conclusion of spring. “That’s for us to compete for 60 minutes in every game we play, and then we’ll see what the scoreboard says.”
OFFENSIVE BUZZ The folks who know the most about the future of offense at Ole Miss either played for him in high school, or witnessed his brief stint at Lambuth or saw the impressive turnaround he orchestrated at Arkansas State, where Freeze spent exactly one year as offensive coordinator and another as head coach before accepting the job in Oxford. Judging by his two years coaching the Red Wolves, Freeze likes to spread the ball all over the field and he likes a quarterback who can supplement his arm with his feet. In Freeze’s system, 22 - MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE
FRESH START... Hugh Freeze takes over an Ole Miss team that has lost 14 straight conference games dating back to 2010. Most Ole Miss fans have a ‘wait and see” approach to the upcoming season to see if Freeze can make a noticeable difference in the teams play.
it all starts with the quarterback. The coach spent the month of April looking for the one who could best keep his offense “on schedule”. That’s Freeze parlance for moving the chains and not giving up the ball with negative yardage or a turnover. Within the first couple weeks of spring practice Freeze pegged returning junior Barry Brunetti and income junior college transfer Bo Wallace as the two who would compete for the job. That decision and an injury bumped returning quarterback Zack Stoudt, who started four games last year, completely out of the picture. If the spring game is any indication, Wallace may have an edge into August. He finished with a game-high 240 yards passing, completing 16 of 26 passes, including two touchdowns and an interception. Brunetti, playing for the opposing unit and noticeably weaker offensive line, was only 4 of 10 for 62 yards, but he also ran for 109 yards. However, the spring game didn’t convince Freeze. “If I had to say today, I’d say I’d probably play two,” the coach responded after the spring game when asked if the quarterback competition might continue even into the
season. Whether or not that’s just coach-speak in an attempt to keep the competition ongoing and sharpen Wallace’s skills is anybody’s guess, but Freeze seemed adamant that the competition was still too close to call. Wallace and Brunetti both bring similar ingredients to the table. They just do it differently. Both can run. Wallace is a big deliberate runner who can carry a few defenders with him trying to get the extra yardage, while Brunetti is more explosive and flashy with his feet. Wallace is tall and can use his 6-foot-5 frame to stand in the pocket and see the field. Brunetti is more compact, agile and seems to be the most effective outside the pocket. And both have different experience that give them unique advantages. Brunetti participated in a spread formation zone read scheme his freshman year at West Virginia. Wallace spent a year under Freeze’s tutelage at Arkansas State before transferring to junior college. Whichever quarterback Freeze chooses will have a fleet of talented receivers at his disposal.