Ole Miss tops Memphis to give Nutt win in debut

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Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	28	19
Total Yards	453	438
Passing	265	222
Rushing	188	216
Penalties	8-50	4-45
3rd Down Conversions	8-16	7-12
4th Down Conversions	2-4	0-0
Turnovers	2	0
Possession	33:40	26:20

Air/Ground Leaders
Memphis Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Hall 15/27 159 0 1 Hudgens 8/15 102 2 1	Mississippi Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Snead 10/22 185 2 0 Bolden 1/1 37 0 0
Memphis Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Steele 15 83 0 25 Hall 7 38 0 12	Mississippi Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Bolden 8 76 1 36 McCluster 6 64 1 32
Memphis Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Singleton 6 89 0 42 Jones 3 61 1 43	Mississippi Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Hodge 2 79 2 64 McCluster 4 61 0 28

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				MEM	MISS
	TD	08:20	Shay Hodge 64 Yd Pass From Jevan Snead (Joshua Shene Kick) Drive: 7 plays, 97 yds, 3:07	0	7
	TD	03:07	Earnest Williams 3 Yd Pass From Will Hudgens (Matt Reagan Kick) Drive: 9 plays, 77 yds, 5:13	7	7
	TD	00:56	Dexter Mccluster 32 Yd Run (Joshua Shene Kick) Drive: 5 plays, 60 yds, 2:11	7	14
SECOND QUARTER				MEM	MISS
	TD	08:42	Enrique Davis 1 Yd Run (Joshua Shene Kick) Drive: 10 plays, 80 yds, 5:07	7	21
	FG	01:59	Joshua Shene 26 Yd Drive: 6 plays, 58 yds, 2:14	7	24
	FG	00:48	Joshua Shene 47 Yd Drive: 4 plays, 4 yds, :50	7	27
	FG	00:00	Matt Reagan 39 Yd Drive: 5 plays, 37 yds, :47	10	27
THIRD QUARTER				MEM	MISS
	TD	08:13	Shay Hodge 15 Yd Pass From Jevan Snead (Joshua Shene Kick) Drive: 9 plays, 59 yds, 3:43	10	34
FOURTH QUARTER				MEM	MISS
	TD	14:51	Maurice Jones 43 Yd Pass From Will Hudgens (Matt Reagan Kick) Drive: 5 plays, 65 yds, 1:40	17	34
	TD	09:12	Brandon Bolden 10 Yd Run (Joshua Shene Kick) Drive: 5 plays, 66 yds, 2:19	17	41
	TD	03:28	Will Hudgens 1 Yd Run (Matt Reagan Kick) Drive: 13 plays, 78 yds, 5:44	24	41

OXFORD, Miss. -- Jevan Snead hit Shay Hodge with touchdown passes of 64 and 15 yards and Mississippi beat Memphis 41-24 Saturday night in Houston Nutt 's debut as Rebels coach.

With all eyes on Snead, making his first start, and Nutt, it was Dexter McCluster who provided the spark with 125 total yards and a touchdown run out of Ole Miss' new Wild Rebel formation.

Despite Snead's long touchdown to Hodge in the first quarter, the Rebels struggled early. McCluster, working out of the shotgun in the same "Wildcat" role played by Darren McFadden under Nutt the last two seasons at Arkansas, got Ole Miss rolling with a 32-yard run around the right end for a touchdown and a 14-7 lead late in the first quarter.

It was the first time Ole Miss scored 40 points against a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent since a 43-40 win over South Carolina on Nov. 1, 2003.

The Wild Rebel had a lot to do with the point total. Ole Miss rolled up 148 yards on 10 plays out of the formation and capped off the scoring with a 10-yard run from freshman tailback Brandon Bolden. He debuted with 61 of his 76 yards rushing coming in the new formation and hit Snead with a 37-yard pass out of the shotgun.

McCluster finished with 64 yards rushing -- 50 out of the Wild Rebel -- and four catches for 61 yards receiving.

Nutt was hired last November to restore fan enthusiasm and field a team that was more prepared on game day after 10 wins in three seasons under Ed Orgeron. With 56,127 fans in the stands and players making few mistakes, about the only setback for Nutt was the overeager fan who surprised him with a chestbump as the team made its way through The Grove a few hours before kickoff.

Snead's debut was solid, though not particularly sharp as he completed 10 of 22 passes for 185 yards. He made few mistakes, but overthrew several receivers in his first action since 2006 when he played in a handful of games for Texas before sitting out last season under NCAA transfer rules.

And Nutt appears to have made a difference for the Southeastern Conference's last-place defense. The Rebels intercepted two passes, setting up two field goals by Joshua Shene, and held Memphis in check except for a late 43-yard touchdown pass from Will Hudgens to Maurice Jones and a 1-yard scoring dive by Hudgens once the game was out of hand.

Hudgens and starter Arkelon Hall struggled. Hall finished with 159 yards passing before leaving due to injury and Hudgens passed for 102 yards. Each threw an interception.