Bo Wallace and No. 3 Ole Miss head out on the road again in Week Eight. (Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports)
OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss feathered its cap with consecutive wins over top-10 opponents, but the challenge against Tennessee this week is not to overlook a testy team starving for a signature win.
No. 3 Ole Miss (6-0, 3-0 SEC) will return to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday to take on Tennessee for homecoming. The Volunteers (3-3, 0-2) have yet to win a game within the Southeastern Conference with losses to Georgia and a middling Florida squad.
Nobody will mistake the Vols for Alabama or Texas A&M, but don’t tell the Rebels things get easier for them this week. It won’t just be coach Hugh Freeze sending the message, but senior quarterback Bo Wallace, who naturally takes this game personally.
“It’s going to be a test for us,” Wallace said. “You’re feeling good about yourself offensively, and you look at that sheet, you’re going to have to bring it this week.”
Wallace was referring to stats on the defensive side of the ball for Tennessee, which is coming off a 45-10 victory over UT-Chattanooga. The Vols are holding opponents under 20 points per game and rank fourth in the SEC in total defense (316 yards allowed per game).
More to the point for Wallace, a Tennessee native, is that this is a game he would circle in red ink on the schedule regardless of what stat sheets and polls might say.
“It’s no secret I grew up loving the Vols. I had my orange on every Saturday. It’s going to be fun getting to play them,” he said.
The Vols’ strength lies in the secondary. Tennessee trails only LSU in the SEC in pass defense (160 yards per game) and ranks fifth in the league with nine interceptions. Sophomore corner Cameron Sutton leads the team with three picks and six pass breakups while freshman safety Todd Kelly Jr. has two interceptions.
Tennessee is anchored in the middle by All-American linebacker A.J. Johnson, who leads the SEC with 68 tackles and has notched double-digit stops in 21 of his 42 career games.
“I always watch the big-play reel on Monday mornings, and theirs is very, very small compared to a lot,” Freeze said. “They don’t give up explosive plays. They’re really talented at corner and Mike linebacker, and their defensive line is extremely, extremely active and athletic. It’s a quality defense.”
The defense has helped the Vols stay in games as the offense has struggled to find its footing in the first half of the season.
Tennessee is last in the league in rushing offense (109 yards per game) and next to last in total offense (347) and scoring (28). It’s contributed to a 34-10 loss at No. 11 Oklahoma, a three-point loss at No. 10 Georgia and a one-point loss to the Gators, the type of close calls that look all too familiar to Ole Miss’ third-year coach.
“This team reminds me eerily similar of our journey, and they are a very, very talented team,” said Freeze, whose first team in 2012 lost to Texas A&M, LSU and Vanderbilt by a combined 10 points before losing to A&M by three last season. “They are hungry. It’s one of those scary games that you know they have good enough athletes to beat you.”
Ole Miss matches up well with the Vols, entering the contest ranked in the SEC’s top 5 in every major defensive statistical category and testing Tennessee’s back end with one of the league’s best passing attacks. Wallace is throwing for 283 yards a game and has 14 touchdown tosses against just three picks since the second half of the season opener against Boise State.
The senior signal caller completed 13 passes for 178 yards and a score last time out against A&M to push his completion percentage to 69 percent. He also ran for his first two touchdowns of the season. In the second half this season, he’s completing 73 percent of his passes with nine touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Tennessee coach Butch Jones knows what his team will have to contend with in Oxford on Saturday.
“I don’t see any inconsistency right now in his play,” Jones said of Wallace. “All I have to go on is the video from this year. He’s playing winning football.”
SERIES HISTORY: Tennessee leads the all-time series 44-19-1 and has won 13 of the last 14. The Vols won the teams’ most recent meeting in 2010, 52-14.
NOTES: LB Deterrian Shackelford was limited against A&M with a sore knee, but Freeze said he’s “hopeful” the senior will be able to play more snaps this week.
