A winning heir
Manning leads Ole Miss to first major bowl win since his dad
1/3/2004
Eli Manning on Friday gave Ole Miss football fans their first victory in a major bowl since his father accomplished the feat 34 years ago, and he stuffed a few more school and Southeastern Conference passing records into his travel bag in the process.
But the 16th-ranked Rebels called upon a secret weapon to help defeat No. 21 Oklahoma State, 31-28, in the 68th annual SBC Cotton Bowl Classic and finish with their first 10-win season since 1971.
The run.
Senior Tremaine Turner rushed for 133 yards, the most for an Ole Miss player this season. With 190 team rushing yards, the Rebels were able to respond to OSU's defensive focus of rushing Manning and opened gaps in the defensive line for the run.
Manning, a Heisman Trophy finalist and the SEC's Player of the Year in his senior season, called plays at the line of scrimmage about 75 percent of the time as the Rebs successfully mixed running with passing at a rate that they hadn't for most of the season.
Manning passed for 259 yards and two touchdowns and was voted the game's outstanding offensive player. Teammate Josh Cooper, a senior defensive end, was voted the game's best defensive player, thanks in part to his two sacks and two tackles for losses.
"Everything about this year has been great," Manning said. "To come to the Cotton Bowl and have your last game and get out a win is something, I will always remember."
Ole Miss coach David Cutcliffe congratulated Manning and the rest of the team's fifth-year seniors for raising the bar for the program.
"What's next has to be championships," he said.
Star receiver Rashaun Woods gave OSU fans reason to believe the Cowboys could pull out a late victory after cutting a 17-point Ole Miss lead to three late in the final period. He set Cotton Bowl records with 11 catches and 223 yards to go with one touchdown. His only superior statistical performance of the season came at SMU's Ford Stadium, which he left with 13 catches and 232 yards in September.
But the Cowboys couldn't duplicate a running game that gave them dangerous balance during the season. Running backs Vernard Morency and Tatum Bell combined for 116 yards, but OSU averaged only 3.0 yards per carry.
"They took the running game away pretty well," said OSU quarterback Josh Fields, who passed for 307 yards and one touchdown. "They were making us have to throw to Rashaun and get yards through the air."
The loss left OSU at 9-4, probably ending the prospect of the Cowboys finishing in the final Associated Press rankings for the first time since 1997. Ole Miss finished 10-3 for its sixth season of double-digit wins.
The crowd of 73,928, the Cotton Bowl's largest in 14 years, was dominated by hometown fans following programs that hadn't been invited to sit at the big kids' table in a long time.
Ole Miss' previous appearance in a so-called major bowl came on New Year's Day 1970, when junior Archie Manning led the Rebs past Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl. The Cowboys last played in one on New Year's Day of '46, beating St. Mary's in the Sugar Bowl.
Ole Miss led at halftime, 17-14, thanks to a 33-yard field goal by Lou Groza Award winner Jonathan Nichols on the Rebels' final possession of the half. While the Cowboys matched Ole Miss with two touchdowns, kicker Luke Phillips missed from 42 yards, and OSU gave up the ball on downs after coach Les Miles didn't allow Phillips to try a 47-yarder into the wind late in the half.
Ole Miss built the 31-14 lead with touchdowns on its first two possessions of the second half, the second capping a 97-yard drive. OSU fought back with two long touchdown drives on its next two possessions, dominated by Fields finding Woods for huge gains.
The Cowboys almost got the ball back again in the closing minutes, but a pass interference penalty against Darrent Williams allowed the Rebs to keep possession for the final 4:38.
"You're going in there to interrupt the pass," Miles said. "If you had some contact, you had some contact."
[an error occurred while processing this directive]