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with Rod Gilmore
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It seemed that West Virginia was playing at a different level than Ole Miss early. Anything the Mountaineers wanted to do, they could. It wasn't just that Brad Lewis was completing passes. Avon Cobourne was running well. Their offensive line was doing a great job both in pass protection and opening holes for Cobourne.
The surprising thing was how completely Ole Miss fell apart. West Virginia had a good plan to take Deuce McAllister out of the game. It was clear that they were committing eight and nine men to stopping the run. They were challenging Romaro Miller to make plays to beat them. It didn't happen. He couldn't complete enough passes to take the pressure off McAllister.
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| IT WAS OVER WHEN ... |
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Ole Miss couldn't answer West Virginia's second-quarter challenge. The Mountaineers erupted for 28 points in the quarter, including a 60-yard Brad Lewis-to-Antonio Brown TD pass and a 1-yard Wes Ours run in the final 3:59.
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| GAME BALL GOES TO ... |
| West Virginia junior quarterback Brad Lewis, who threw four of his career-high five TD passes in the first 26 minutes. Lewis was 14-of-20 passing for 318 yards.
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Nehlen Leaves a Winner
Ivy Khori hauls in one of his two TD catches for the Mountaineers.
Brad Lewis made sure Don Nehlen's final West Virginia memory would be a good one. Lewis threw for five TDs Thursday, leading the Mountaineers to a 49-38 victory over Mississippi in the Music City Bowl. Nehlen, leaving after 21 seasons as head coach, had his eight-game bowl losing streak at West Virginia end. Ole Miss, meanwhile, said goodbye to star running back Deuce McAllister, who was held to just 22 rushing yards.
• Listen to Music City Bowl | Inside the playbook
| INDIVIDUAL STATISTICAL LEADERS |
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MISSISSIPPI |
YARDS |
WEST VIRGINIA |
YARDS |
| Passing |
Romaro Miller |
221 |
Brad Lewis |
318 |
| Rushing |
Joe Gunn |
34 |
Avon Cobourne |
125 |
| Receiving |
Chris Collins |
65 |
Antonio Brown |
156 |
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 West Virigina vs. Mississippi
 West Viriginia's Shawn Terry stomps 99 yards for the TD against Mississippi.
avi: 2035 k
Real: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
West Virigina vs. Mississippi
Brad Lewis throws a 60-yard bomb to Antonio Brown for the touchdown.
avi: 1075 k
Real: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
West Virigina vs. Mississippi
West Virigina's Brad Lewis throws 40 yards to Wes Ours for the TD.
avi: 1564 k
Real: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
| TEAM STATISTICAL COMPARISON |
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| Total Offense |
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347.0 |  | 
348.3 |
Passing Yards |
| | 200.2 | | |
207.5 |
Passing completion percentage |
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54.1 | | |
46.6 |
Completions |
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178 | | |
151 |
Attempts |
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329 | | |
324 |
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| Scoring Offense |
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28.5 | | |
27.9 |
Scoring Defense |
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25.5 | | |
29.5 |
Rushing Yards |
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146.8 | | |
140.8 |
Rushing attempts |
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408 | | |
451 |
Key: |
| Mississippi | | West Virginia |
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 "I was so sick of hearing how good the SEC is and how good Ole Miss is and how good Deuce is ... It's nice to finally see you Ole Miss fans eating your words. Welcome to the Big East!!! Everyone thinks it's an easy conference with one good team ... Tonight's game just goes to show how good our conference is and how much it is disrespected."
-- idoc88
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