In a Nutshell: Instant Reaction to Ole Miss’ 40-6 road win over Wake Forest
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C — Ole Miss traveled to take on Wake Forest in the Rebels’ first road game of the 2024 season and emerged victorious, 40-6.
Although Ole Miss was a little sloppy at times, committing 11 penalties for 114 yards, the Rebels showed toughness and did what they needed to do — beat a power four opponent by 30+ points on the road.
THE POSITIVE: A quick start. As was the case in the first two games of the season, Ole Miss got off to a fast start, outscoring the Demon Deacons 20-3.
You can’t leave @jordantwatkins that open 🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/RnrjKi9Gvz
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) September 14, 2024
THE NEGATIVE: Taking the foot off the gas. After a strong first quarter, the Rebels just became sloppy, giving Wake Forest a tiny glimmer of hope. Ole Miss lost a fumble, threw an interception, missed an extra point, along with committing the 11 penalties. The Rebs scored 20 points in the first quarter and 20 the rest of the game.
THE KEY PLAY: In the third quarter, Wake was at the Ole Miss 4-yard-line and faced a fourth-and-goal. Hank Bachmeier’s pass fell incomplete, so the Rebels held. Had the Deacons converted there, the score would have been 23-13 and Wake Forest would have had a lot of momentum. Ole Miss took over and the ensuing drive led to a 13-yard scoring run by Jaxson Dart and the Rebels had a 30-6 lead.
THE KEY PLAYER: Chris “Pooh” Paul. His stat line was deceiving — five tackles, four of them solo stops — a pass break up and a pair of quarterback hurries. But the Arkansas transfer was around the ball all night long, making his presence known. When the defense needed a big play, Pooh was there!
Shark sighting 🦈@PoohPaul4 | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/78IlB57rpz
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) September 15, 2024
Chris Pooh Paul Jr out here looking like Clark Kent
— Daylan Flowers (@TheDaylanShow) September 15, 2024
THE KEY UNIT: The offensive line. Because of those guys, Ole Miss gained 650 total yards. Also, 273 of those were on the ground — 148 of those coming from Henry Parrish, Jr. Ole Miss also earned 33 first downs.
WHAT THIS MEANS GOING FORWARD: Likely, the game was a bit of a wake-up call for the Rebels. Next week, Ole Miss hosts Georgia Southern in a battle of former USC coaches, Lane Kiffin and Clay Helton, in the final non-conference game for the Rebels. In two weeks, Ole Miss get into the Southeastern Conference schedule when they play Kentucky — the same Kentucky in a dog fight tonight with Georgia.
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.
