In the early morning hours of Dec. 21, 2014, less than a week after signing with Ole Miss as the top JUCO quarterback in the country, Chad Kelly was arrested for tussling with bouncers outside a bar in Buffalo, N.Y. Exactly 342 days later, Kelly was grinning his sheepish grin and raising the Egg Bowl trophy above his head on the turf of Scott Field, the latest spoil among a collection that now includes the Ole Miss single-season records for passing yards and total touchdowns.
It was the moment in which Hugh Freeze collected the metaphorical chips for his high-stakes gamble to give Kelly one more chance.