BLOG — Two steps forward, one back. Such is the life of an Ole Miss quarterback after the first week of summer drills.Sophomore Bo Wallace and Barry Brunetti both had their moments of positive play in Saturday’s first scrimmage of summer drills. They also had their share of miscues in the form of interceptions, missed reads or over throws. In short, the battle to see which one ends up being the starter long term for first-year coach Hugh Freeze remains way too close and too early to call.
“It goes back to there was two days where I felt really good about them and then today I didn’t feel really good about either one of them,” Freeze said when asked about Wallace and Brunetti, who both threw two interceptions compared to just one touchdown combined. “We just started off bad and it took them a while to get their composure. They did have some drops that hurt them but we are a long way from where we need to be at that position.”
Wallace, who missed seven of his first 11 passes before getting into a better rhythm, connected with Randall Mackey for a 28-yard touchdown pass during the scrimmage. He finished with the most passing yards — 134 — but he was was just 10-for-23 overall and missed his last four completions.
Brunetti had a better completion percentage — 12-for-24 — but he had two interceptions earlier in the scrimmage that thwarted potential scoring drives.
Ole Miss’ third-string quarterback, Maikhail Miller, also some action during the scrimmage. He appeared in two series and he completed two passes, with one going to freshman Jaylen Walton for a first down.
Other highlights of Saturday’s scrimmage included the running of Walton and fellow freshman I’Tavius Mathers with Jeff Scott out of the lineup.
The place-kicking of Andrew Ritter and Bryson Rose. Ritter will redshirt this year, but his development as a kicker showed with a make of 49 yards.
The defense continued to cause turnovers with five being garnered through four interceptions (Senquez Golson, Gilbert Pena, Cody Prewitt and Quintavius Burdette) and a fumble recovery.
For more on Saturday’s scrimmage, see Monday’s Sports section. Below is a video interview with Freeze.
(August 11, 2012)
