Mississippi 49, Central Arkansas 27: Bo Wallace threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in his Division I debut as the host Rebels dominated the second half to cruise to a season-opening win.

Wallace finished 20-of-24 for 268 yards and added a game-high 82 yards rushing for Ole Miss, which won its debut under new coach Hugh Freeze.

Despite Freeze suggesting earlier in the week that Wallace would work in tandem with Barry Brunetti, the transfer from East Mississippi Community College took the majority of the snaps for the Rebels en route to their first season-opening win since 2009.

Wallace scored from 25 yards out on his first drive to give Ole Miss an early lead, but the Bears stormed back to take a 20-14 halftime advantage.

Wallace led the Rebels back with 35 unanswered points as the Mississippi defense contained Central Arkansas for most of the second half, only allowing a touchdown to the Bears in the final minutes.

Mississippi finished with 567 yards of total offense, including 233 rushing.

Wynrick Smothers was 25-of-33 for 247 yards and two scores while Al Lasker added a team-high 89 receiving yards for the Bears.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Rebels improved to 87-26-5 all-time in season openers and is 53-14 in their last 67 games against non-conference opponents. … This game was Central Arkansas’ first against an SEC opponent. … Freeze, who coached Arkansas State last season, and his teams have defeated the Bears by a combined score of 102-51 over the past two seasons.