BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Mississippi beat Pittsburgh 38-17 in the BBVA Compass Bowl to complete an impressive turnaround under first-year coach Hugh Freeze in college football Saturday. Ole Miss (7-6) took a five-win improvement over its 2-10 finish in 2011. Pitt (6-7) struggled on offense as leading rusher Ray Graham was held out with a hamstring injury he suffered in practice. The Panthers fell behind in the opening minutes after quarterback Tino Sunseri threw his first interception since Sept. 15 and trailed for the remainder of the game. Bo Wallace threw three touchdown passes for Ole Miss. His 13-yard touchdown pass to Ja-Mess Logan gave the Rebels a 7-0 lead. Wallace added first-half touchdown passes to Randall Mackey, for 27 yards, and Vince Sanders, for 18 yards. Pitt, under first-year coach Paul Chryst, was making its third straight appearance in the bowl. The Panthers lost to SMU in last year's game. The Panthers played their last game as a Big East team. They are moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference next season. Wallace, chosen the game's MVP, completed 22 of 32 passes for 151 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Ole Miss backup quarterback Barry Brunetti had a 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and freshman running back I'Tavius Mathers added a 62-yard scoring run midway through the fourth quarter to cap the rout. “I've tried to learn not to make too much out of a single game either way, but no question this advances our journey a bit,” Freeze said. “To be where we're sitting here year one far surpasses certainly the prognosticators and whatever they had for us. Our guys really chose to buy in and determine we could be who we want to be. We don't have to have someone else determine that.” The bowl win was especially satisfying for veteran players who had no postseason last year. “The best thing is our program is moving in the right direction,” said junior linebacker Mike Marry, who had four of the Rebels' 11 tackles for losses. “We're not where we want to be right now but we're moving there.” Freeze's no-huddle, up-tempo offense produced 38 first downs and 387 yards. Pitt was held to 266 yards, its second-lowest total of the season. “Obviously, it was a tough one for us,” said Pitt coach Paul Chryst, also completing his first season. “Give Ole Miss credit. They beat us in almost every phase. They were clearly the better team.” — Agencies
