It wasn’t pretty, but No. 18 Ole Miss (1-0) will take it. A fourth quarter interception of Boise State (0-1) quarterback Grant Hedrick was quickly capitalized on when Bo Wallace connected with Quincy Adeboyejo for a 31-yard touchdown play, aided by some missed tackles by Boise State defenders. The score midway through the fourth quarter gave Ole Miss a double-digit lead and Boise state was unable to make a late dent in the deficit. A 76-yard touchdown pass to Cody Core served as the dagger to Boise State’s hopes for a victory in Atlanta. Ole Miss won the first game in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff, 35-13.
Wallace had his ups and downs with four touchdowns and three interceptions, but managed to make some nice throws in the fourth quarter to help lead his team to victory. The go-to target of the night was Laquon Treadwell, who got into some feisty verbal and physical exchanges during the night but ended up letting his play do most of the talking. Treadwell was the go-to receiver, but Core was the big play receiver. Core and Treadwell each put together a 100-yard night.
Bryan Harsin‘s debut as Boise State head coach will see him return to Boise with plenty to work on moving forward. The defense was worn down but performed well for the most part. The Broncos intercepted three passes and put the clamps down on the Ole Miss running game. The offense though, was up against a wall for most of the night. Credit to the Ole Miss defensive line, but Hedrick was intercepted four times and the Broncos were unable to take advantage of opportunities. One interception came in the end zone and Boise State had to settle for a field goal when a drive stalled just yards shy of the end zone. Running back Jay Ajayi never had much room to do much on the ground, accounting for 88 rushing yards and the only touchdown of the night for Boise State.
Ole Miss will play on the road next week in a SEC contest. The Rebels visit Vanderbilt, who saw their Thursday night opener against Temple pushed back late into the night due to severe weather. Ole Miss showed some very good things on defense but obviously needs to find a way to get on track offensively if the Rebels are going to be any legitimate threat in the SEC West, or at least to cause some trouble for programs like Alabama, Auburn or LSU (or Texas A&M).
Boise State likely loses a shot to get out in front of the race for a guaranteed spot in the College Football Playoff bowl line-up. The highest-ranked conference champion from the American Athletic Conference, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West Conference or Sun Belt gets a spot in one of the big revenue bowl games. Boise State could have used a win over a top 25 SEC team to crack the top 25 rankings next week and get out in front of the pack.