Ole Miss Proves Better Than Young Moss, 34-31

Deuce McAllister’s one-yard touchdown run with 31 seconds remaining lifted Mississippi to a 34-31 victory over Marshall in the inaugural Motor City Bowl before 43,340 at the Silverdome Friday night.

Marshall’s last-ditch bid for a comeback ended when Randy Moss, who finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting, had the ball stripped away by linebacker Broc Kreitz after a 40-yard completion on the final play of the game.

Moss finished with six receptions for 173 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown play.

Stewart Patridge completed 29-of-47 passes for 332 yards and three touchdowns with one interception for Ole Miss (8-4), which tied for third in the West division of the Southeastern Conference. John Avery rushed 27 times for 132 yards and one touchdown for the Rebels.

Chad Pennington hit 23 of 45 for 337 yards and also had three touchdown tosses for Marshall (10-3), the Mid-American Conference champion.

Marshall took a 31-27 lead as Doug Chapman, who rushed 19 times for 153 yards, scored on a nine-yard run with 2:57 remaining, capping an 88-yard, nine-play drive.

But Ole Miss came right back, winning it on McAllister’s run.

The game got off to an electric start with two touchdowns on only three snaps in the first 41 seconds.

Ken Lucas got it started, returning the opening kickoff 29 yards to the Ole Miss 45. On the first snap, Patridge hooked up with Grant Heard down the sideline for a 54-yard pass play. Avery dove over for a touchdown on the next play and Ole Miss led, 7-0, with 24 seconds gone.

The Thundering Herd answered with an 80-yard touchdown bomb from Pennington to Moss, who got behind cornerback Malikia Griffin, on Marshall’s first snap. That tied it, 7-7, 41 seconds into the game.

It was the 54th touchdown catch for Moss, who has scored in every game he has played for Marshall. He set a Division I-A record with 25 touchdown receptions during the 1997 regular season.