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DALLAS (AP)- Eli Manning stayed another year at Mississippi in hopes
of a season just like this: 10 wins and a January victory. Manning threw
for 259 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score in his final
game for Ole Miss, leading the No. 16 Rebels to a 31-28 victory over No.
21 Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl on Friday.
"Everything about this year has been great. It's been a great run ...
it's been a fun ride," said Manning, who completed 22 of 31 passes. "It
has to end sometime. We picked a great way to end it."
Not ready for the college experience to end, Manning decided against
early entry into the NFL draft last spring. Already considered a top
prospect, he only increased his stock with a standout senior season.
Manning threw for 3,600 yards and 29 touchdowns this season, led the
Rebels to their first 10-win season since 1971. He also led Ole Miss'
first January victory since the 1970 Sugar Bowl when his father, Archie,
threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score in a 27-22 win over
Arkansas.
"This raises the bar for us," coach David Cutcliffe said.
Ole Miss' only other January games since that Sugar Bowl had been in the
Gator Bowl. The Rebels lost to Auburn in Archie Manning's final game in
1971 and to Michigan in 1991.
"When I came to Ole Miss, everyone expected me to bring the program back
to its glory days," Eli Manning said. "I didn't want to put that kind of
pressure on myself."
Still, he finished with a school-record 10,119 yards, becoming only the
fifth Southeastern Conference passer with 10,000 yards. That is 1,082
less than the SEC record held by older brother Peyton Manning, the
Indianapolis Colts' quarterback and the NFL's co-MVP who played at
Tennessee from 1994-97.
Manning's 1-yard keeper with 12:32 left capped a 13-play, 97-yard drive,
and ended a streak of 24 straight points by Ole Miss which provided just
enough to overcome the Cowboys (9-4). "I just sat there watching him,
thinking Eli Manning is a bad boy," said Oklahoma State receiver Rashaun
Woods, who set Cotton Bowl records with 11 catches for 223 yards. And
Woods meant that as a compliment.
On the long drive, Manning converted third-and-13 and third-and-12 plays
with passes of more than 20 yards. Woods caught a 17-yard TD pass to get
Oklahoma State to 31-28 with 4:38 left (video),
just four minutes after Vernand Morency's second touchdown run. On the
72-yard drive that ended with Morency's second TD, he caught two passes
for 63 yards -- both on plays when cornerback Travis Johnson was called
for pass interference and still couldn't prevent the catches.
"My job is to go out there and make plays for my team," Woods said. "As
far as how they played me, that doesn't concern me. I'm just here to
make plays."
 But the Cowboys never got the ball back after his leaping TD catch over
another defender. Tremaine Turner's 25-yard run on third-and-5 from
midfield with 2:43 left was the clincher. Turner finished with 133 yards
on 20 carries. Oklahoma State had just called its last timeout, and the
Rebels were able to run out the clock. Ole Miss also benefited when
All-Big 12 cornerback Darrent Williams was called for pass interference
on third-and-10.
"It was one of those games where we felt like we just ran out of time,"
OSU coach Les Miles said.
The Cowboys played in January for the first time since 1949. They have
improved in all three seasons under Miles: from 4-7 in 2001 to 8-5 and
now just one win short of their first 10-win season since 1988.
Oklahoma State's Josh Fields set a Cotton Bowl record with 307 yards on
21-of-33 passing. The junior's touchdown pass gave him 55 in his career,
breaking the school record set by offensive coordinator Mike Gundy
(1986-89).
Turner caught Manning's first TD pass, and his 2-yard TD run opened the
second-half scoring (video).
After Jon Holland intercepted Manning's pass on the final play of the
first quarter and returned it to the Ole Miss 44, Tatum Bell scored on a
3-yard run for a 14-7 lead (video).
Ole Miss then scored on four straight series, and Oklahoma State didn't
score again until the fourth quarter. The Rebels tied it at 14 when
Manning threw a 25-yard TD pass to Mike Espy in the middle of the field
(video). Manning's 16-yard TD pass to Turner
gave Ole Miss a 7-0 lead.
Oklahoma State tied it on Morency's 4-yard TD run. He had three straight
runs after a fake field goal on which holder Sky Ryland ran for 4 yards
on fourth-and-3 from the 26.
After the game was tied at 14, the Cowboys had fourth-and-4 at the Ole
Miss 30 when Fields was sacked by Josh Cooper for a 9-yard loss. The
Rebels then set up Jonathan Nichols' 34-yard field goal with 15 seconds
left in the half to go ahead to stay.
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Attendance: 73,928
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
Ole Miss- Turner 16 yd pass from Manning (Nichols kick)
OSU- Morency 4 yd run (Phillips kick)
Second Quarter
OSU- Bell 3 yd run (Phillips kick)
Ole Miss- Espy 25 yd pass from Manning (Nochols kick)
Ole
Miss- FG Nichols 33
Third Quarter
Ole
Miss- Turner 2 yd run (Nichols kick)
Fourth Quarter
Ole
Miss- Manning 1 yd run (Nichols kick)
OSU- Morency 1 yd run (Phillips kick)
OSU- Wood 17 yd pass from Fields (Phillips kick)
Individual Statistics
Passing
OSU- Fields 21-33-307
Ole
Miss- Manning 22-31-259
Rushing
OSU- Morency 15-59, Bell 14-46
Ole
Miss- Turner 20-133, Pearson 12-42
Receiving
OSU- Woods 11-223, D'Juan Woods 4-51
Ole
Miss- Collins 8-75, Johnson 3-53, Espy 2-47, Lilly
2-30
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