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College Football
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Mississippi 38, Pittsburgh 17
When: 1:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 5, 2013
Where: Legion Field, Birmingham, Alabama
Temperature: °
Head Official: Reggie Smith
Attendance: 59135


Mississippi 38, Pittsburgh 17: Bo Wallace threw for three first-half touchdowns as the Rebels rolled to a convincing victory in the BBVA Compass Bowl in Birmingham, Ala.

Wallace finished 22-of-32 for only 151 yards – overcoming two second-quarter interceptions – for Mississippi (7-6), which rushed for 224 yards en route to its ninth win in its last 10 bowl appearances.

Freshman Rushel Shell, filling in for an injured Ray Graham, ran for 79 yards for Pittsburgh (6-7).

Playing without Graham, the Panthers came out flat and quickly fell behind after quarterback Tito Sunseri was intercepted by Senquez Golson, leading to Wallace’s first touchdown throw to Ja-Mes Logan five plays later. Following a three-and out by Pittsburgh on the next possession, Wallace capped a 10-play march with a 27-yard scoring pass to Randall Mackey to give the Rebels a 14-0 advantage.

The Panthers cut the lead in half following an interception when Sunseri found Devin Street wide open in the end zone for a 10-yard score with 7:13 left in the second quarter, but Wallace answered with his final touchdown - an 18-yard toss to Vince Sanders - 71 seconds later. Pittsburgh managed a field goal late in the half to move within 21-10, but could get no closer.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Graham, the second-leading rusher in school history, has a lingering hamstring injury. … Mississippi freshman I'Tavius Mathers set a bowl record with a 62-yard scoring run on his first carry and finished with 96 yards, all in the final nine minutes. … Sunseri’s first-quarter interception ended a streak in which he had thrown 272 consecutive passes without a pick.

Top Game Performances
Rushing
Pittsburgh   Mississippi
Rushel Shell Player I'Tavius Mathers
25 Attempts 6
79 Yards 96
3.2 Avg Yards 16.0
0 Touchdowns 1
0 Long 0
Receiving
Pittsburgh   Mississippi
Devin Street Player Vince Sanders
7 Receptions 5
83 Yards 39
11.9 Avg Yards 7.8
1 Touchdowns 1
0 Long 0
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
Pittsburgh 266 81 185 2 1 2 1.0 1
Mississippi 387 224 163 5 1 1 4.0 1