Ole Miss beats Arkansas to become bowl eligible

OXFORD, Miss. -- With Saturday's 34-24 win against Arkansas, Ole Miss became bowl eligible for the second time in coach Hugh Freeze's two-year stint.

It was often sloppy, but behind a career day from quarterback Bo Wallace, the BBVA Compass Bowl champs are now looking for much more than a six-win bowl game. Here are four things we learned about the Rebels.

1. Ole Miss is learning to win, even if it's not that pretty.

Wallace threw for a career-high 407 yards, but he also threw two interceptions, one that Arkansas scored off of to pull within three points to open the second half.

Ole Miss (6-3, 3-3) also allowed 389 total yards and rushed for only 112 yards on 39 carries -- with starting back Jeff Scott out with a thigh bruise. The Rebels also failed to score despite a first-and-goal from the Arkansas 1 in the second quarter.  

"A great sign for our program in Year 2 is that we're able to win an SEC football game when we may not play our best," Freeze said. "Thought there were some really good plays today, then some that we made it much harder on ourselves, particularly defensively at times."

In the slop though, the Rebels answered the bell every time Arkansas rang it. Twice when the Razorbacks (3-7, 0-6) pulled within a field goal, Wallace ended a quick-strike, 75-yard drive with a 14-yard pass to Laquon Treadwell and a 75-yard pass to Ja-Mes Logan.

2. Beat-up Bo looking for much more than Birmingham.

Wallace has answered his critics, who wanted to see fewer mistakes than they saw last season. Saturday, he passed Archie Manning and Jevan Snead on the school's total offense rankings, where he now resides in fifth place with 5,933 yards.

The junior completed 26-of-33 passes for 407 yards and three touchdowns, the fifth-highest yardage total by a quarterback in program history. He was still beating himself up after the game, seeking improvement on third down.

Wallace drew (out-of-context) flack prior to the Alabama game for saying he felt like his receivers were among the best in the country. Saturday, junior Donte Moncrief hauled in a season-high seven catches for 149 yards and a touchdown. Logan had five catches for 110 yards and a touchdown, the first time the Rebels have had two receivers cross the century mark in the same game since 2003.

"I've said all year what I think," Wallace said. "I may have caught some flack for it, but ... I want to say it, but I'm not going to say it. I think they're great players."

Wallace, who said Ole Miss' goal is higher than a six-win bowl, was without key tight end Evan Engram, out for the season due to season-ending ankle surgery. Engram was the Rebels' third-leading receiver when he was hurt in the Oct. 19 upset of LSU.

3. Ole Miss is ahead of where Freeze thought.

When Freeze took the program over from Houston Nutt, Ole Miss was coming off a two-year record of 7-17 and had lost 14 straight SEC games.

Freeze admitted he didn't really expect to be at this point this soon.

"If I were to be candid, I would probably say no, just based on the first spring that I got here. I just felt like we had a lot of issues and maybe lack of depth at a lot of places and I wasn't sure about the talent," he said. "I would say we're probably ahead of schedule."

The SEC losing streak ended at 16 last season and the Rebels went an unexpected 7-6. Then came the touted -- and productive -- top-five recruiting class.

There are still three games left this season, all in Mississippi -- including the Egg Bowl finale at Mississippi State.

"Really if you were to look at my plan probably when I first came in, it was probably to get to a bowl in year three if I were to be truthful with you," Freeze said. "We're thrilled and excited to get back work tomorrow."

4. The little things -- good and bad -- make the biggest difference.

On Moncrief's 52-yard touchdown, receiver Jordan Holder made just as big a play.

Holder held a block just long enough to turn a first-down catch into a touchdown and 34-17 lead.

"The job he did on that ...," Freeze said. "The job he did on that block was big."

With Arkansas down 20-17 and threatening in the third quarter, Lavon Hooks and Channing Ward combined to stop Jonathan Williams from throwing a halfback pass. It turned out to be a loss of nine and led to a punt and Logan's 75-yard touchdown catch.

All little things weren't positive. starting freshman defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche -- the former top national recruit -- was ejected with the game all but in hand late in the fourth quarter. Back after missing two games with a hamstring strain, Nkemdiche violently shoved an Arkansas offensive lineman to the ground after a fourth-quarter touchdown. He told older brother and linebacker Denzel Nkemdiche it was retaliation, but he was ejected. Freeze wasn't sure after the game if there would be any added punishment from the league. There may be something in-house.

"He told me the guy said some words to him and what-not and he retaliated or what-not I guess," Denzel Nkemdiche said. "I told him he just has to control that in situations like that because we need him. It's tough. It's just something you've got to work on."