COLLEGE FOOTBALL RECAP

Ole Miss wears down Boise State behind D, Wallace

The Sports Xchange

August 28, 2014 at 8:44 pm.

Aug 28, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Mississippi Rebels quarterback Bo Wallace (14) throws the ball against the Boise State Broncos in the first quarter of the 2014 Chick-fil-a Kickoff Game at the Georgia Dome. Photo Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

ATLANTA — It wasn’t a thing of beauty, but No. 18 Ole Miss will take it.

Quarterback Bo Wallace threw four touchdown passes, three coming in the fourth quarter, and the Rebels’ defense forced four turnovers in a sloppy 35-13 victory over Boise State on Thursday in the season opener at the Georgia Dome.

Wallace connected with wide receiver Laquon Treadwell on a 14-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter and then put the game away with a 31-yard touchdown to Quincy Adeboyejo to put the Rebels up 21-6 with 10 minutes to play.

That was plenty for the Ole Miss defense, which picked off Boise State quarterback Grant Hedrick four times and kept the Broncos out of the end zone until late in the fourth quarter. Cody Prewitt, Senquez Golson, C.J. Johnson and Tony Conner had interceptions for the Rebels.

Wallace tacked on a 76-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Cody Core with 7:45 to play, and running back Mark Dodson scored on a late 19-yard touchdown run to cap the Rebels’ scoring.

Wallace finished 25 of 36 for 386 yards with three interceptions, all coming in the first half.

Like Wallace, Hedrick threw three interceptions in the first half. The senior led the Broncos on two drives inside the Ole Miss 5-yard line in the first half but came away with only three points. A Hedrick touchdown pass to running back Jay Ajayi with four minutes to play in the second quarter and two Dan Goodale field goals accounted for the Broncos’ points.

The game was much closer than the final score indicates. The Rebels led just 7-6 after three quarters but eventually wore down the Broncos.

The first half was marred by mistakes typical of a first game. Each quarterback threw three interceptions. Ole Miss was called for 10 penalties, including seven false starts. The Rebels committed two false starts before they ran a play on their first offensive possession.

It certainly wasn’t the way Ole Miss hoped to begin a season with high expectations. The Rebels return 14 starters and have visions of taking a step up in the rugged SEC West.

Boise State, on the other hand, entered the season unranked for the first time since 2008. The Broncos earned a reputation as giant-killers during the BCS era with marquee wins over big-name programs. But Boise State took a step back last season, finishing 8-5, and coach Chris Petersen bolted for Washington.

Boise coach Bryan Harsin, a former assistant for the Broncos, was hired after only one season as a head coach at Arkansas State. He acknowledged leading up to Thursday’s game that the Broncos’ roster wasn’t as talented as it was during their run to prominence.

Early in the game, Boise State took its lumps but hung in there. After Jeremy Ioane’s interception of Wallace, the Broncos marched inside the Ole Miss 5-yard line. But on third-and-goal, Hedrick threw an ill-advised pass that was picked off in the end zone by Golson.

The Rebels finally settled down enough on the ensuing drive for the strong-armed Wallace to zing a 30-yard touchdown pass to Core to give Ole Miss a 7-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Rebels led 7-3 at halftime.

NOTES: Ole Miss starting LB Serderius Bryant was ejected from the game in the first quarter for a hit to the head of Grant Hedrick after the Boise State quarterback released a pass. … Boise State first-year coach Bryan Harsin replaced current Auburn coach Gus Malzahn at Arkansas State. Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze also coached at Arkansas State before taking over at Ole Miss. … Ole Miss was picked to finish fourth the Southeastern Conference West in the preseason media poll. The Rebels open SEC play at Vanderbilt next week. … Boise State was picked to win the Mountain West Conference in the preseason media poll. The Broncos open MWC play next week against Colorado State. … Thursday’s game was the first meeting between the two teams. … Alabama will play West Virginia on Saturday in the second of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff games.