OXFORD, MISSISSIPPI - Eli Manning threw for 174 yards including three touchdowns to lead the Ole Miss Rebels past the Memphis Tigers, 38-16, at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. <br>
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Robert Williams led the ground attack for the Rebels (2-0) as he ran for 107 yards on 17 carries. <br>
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Memphis (1-1) was led by quarterback Danny Wimprine who passed for 271 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Wimprine put up good numbers despite being sacked five times in the contest. <br>
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Antoine Harden paced Memphis in receiving, catching four balls and racking up 119 yards with two touchdowns. <br>
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The Tigers got on the board first when Wimprine hit Harden on a 51-yard scoring pass to put Memphis up 7-0 with 6:55 left in the first quarter. <br>
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Ole Miss turned up the heat in the second quarter when Jamil Northcutt intercepted a pass by Wimprine to give the Rebels the ball on the Memphis seven-yard line. Jonathan Nichols booted a 19-yard field goal to make the Tigers pay for the turnover and cut the deficit to 7-3 with 11:20 to play in the half. <br>
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The Rebels took control from that point on by scoring two unanswered touchdowns in the half. Manning connected on touchdown passes to Bill Flowers and Chris Collins to put Ole Miss up 17-7 at half time. <br>
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Ole Miss extended its lead to 24-7 with 3:43 left in the third quarter when Rick Razzano ran up the middle from two-yards out for the score. <br>
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Memphis countered with two consecutive scores. Wimprine connected with Harden on a 50-yard touchdown strike and Stephen Gostowski hit a 30-yard field goal to cut the Ole Miss lead to 24-16 with 8:37 left to play. <br>
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The Rebels kept the pressure on as they piled up the points down the stretch. Manning found Vashon Pearson for a 16-yard touchdown pass and Jason Armstead returned a Memphis punt 61 yards for a score with under three minutes to play to put the final nail in the Tigers' coffin and give Ole Miss a 38-16 edge. <br>
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The Ole Miss kicker, Nichols, had a rough day despite the win, hitting just one-of-four field goal attempts in the contest.
