Bo Wallace reminisces about leading Ole Miss to a win over Alabama
Six years after a Rebel win over the Tide, fans still tell former Ole Miss QB Bo Wallace how much the victory means.
OXFORD, Miss. — Probably every Ole Miss fan remembers where they were Oct. 4, 2014. ESPN’s College Gameday came to The Grove, Katy Perry made an appearance and the Rebels beat Alabama 23-17.
It’s such an important date in Rebel football lore that people remember what they had for lunch, at which sports bar they watched the game or, for the lucky, which seat they had in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium that day.
Bo also rushed for 32 yards against the Crimson Tide. (Photo: Bentley Breland, Rebel Walk)
No matter the choice of seat, no one had the view of one man, Bo Wallace. He had the best view in the house. Wallace quarterbacked Ole Miss to that monumental win that day. Six years later, he is reminded of it daily.
“It happens all the time,” Wallace told The Rebel Walk recently. “People come up to me and tell me how much that game means to them.”
Wallace is now the offensive coordinator at Coahoma Community College just north of Clarksville, Miss., but that Alabama game is never far from his mind. But what he remembers most is not so much the game nor the postgame celebration. Wallace recalls the preparation more than anything.
“Oh, I remember our game plan and how good it was,” Wallace said. “I think they played West Virginia earlier and we saw that film. We took a lot of things they did and mixed in some things we did well, and it worked out.”
It worked out well, indeed.
Wallace threw for 251 yards and three touchdowns in the game. The last scoring pass was a 10-yard TD strike to Jaylen Walton that provided the Rebels’ winning points.
Wallace hopes Ole Miss will have the same kind of success when the Crimson Tide comes back to Oxford Saturday. He believes the Rebels have the offense to do the job.
“I love (coach Lane) Kiffin’s offense. Matt (Corral) knows this offense and he looks like a different quarterback this year.”
Former Ole Miss QB Bo Wallace
Wallace’s offense at Coahoma is not bad either. In their first game, the Tigers beat Itawamba 37-23 in the opener of the seven-game season.
“Our offense is similar (to what we ran at Ole Miss),” Wallace said. “We do some things that I learned from Coach (Hugh) Freeze and combine it with some things I have learned from other coaches. I have been very fortunate to have worked with some great coaches.”
Even as he concentrates on his team this week, on Saturday he will be watching the Rebels, even though he will not be at the game due to the COVID-19 restrictions in the stadium.
He will also be thinking about the teammates he had that October day in 2014 when Ole Miss outscored the Tide 13-0 in the fourth quarter to come from behind and win.
“When we are in Oxford, we (former teammates) reminisce about that game. It was definitely the biggest game of my college career and it is what Ole Miss fans remember me by.”
Bo Wallace
Perhaps Saturday night, the current Rebels will create similar memories.
Hotty Toddy!
Steve Barnes
Steve Barnes joins The Rebel Walk staff as a senior writer and brings a trifecta of journalistic experience. As a writer, he has covered college sports for Rivals.com, Football.com and SaturdayDownSouth.com as well as served as a beat writer for various traditional newspapers.
He has been a broadcaster for arena football and several national tournament events for the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as hosting various shows on radio.
A former sports information director at Albany (Ga.) State University and an assistant at Troy and West Florida, he has helped host many NCAA conference, regional and national events, including serving five years on the media committee of the NCAA Division II World Series.
Barnes, a native of Pensacola, Fla., attended Ole Miss in 1983-84, where his first journalism teacher was David Kellum. The duo has come a long way since that time.
He will bring a proven journalistic track record, along with a knack for finding the out-of-the-ordinary story angles to The Rebel Walk.
Barnes continues to reside in Pensacola a mere ten minutes from the beach because he does have taste and a brain.
