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Nutt, Mississippi roll over Arkansas 30-17

Oct 24, 2009 - 8:28 PM By NOAH TRISTER AP Sports Writer

OXFORD, Miss.(AP) -- Dexter McCluster set career highs in rushing and receiving, and Jevan Snead threw for a career-high 332 yards to lead Mississippi to a 30-17 victory over Arkansas on Saturday.

Rebels coach Houston Nutt beat his former team for the second straight year.

Ole Miss (5-2, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) jumped ahead 17-0 and controlled the line of scrimmage throughout. The Rebels could have won by more if not for three turnovers.

Arkansas (3-4, 1-4) pulled to 24-17 in the third quarter when Carlton Salters caught a tipped pass for a 58-yard touchdown, but the Razorbacks couldn't finish the rally and Ole Miss added two field goals in the fourth.

Nutt coached Arkansas for 10 seasons before leaving late in 2007. The Rebels immediately hired him.

McCluster plays a variety of roles for Ole Miss, but he hadn't been much of a factor this season. That changed right away against Arkansas. He touched the ball on about half the Rebels' first-quarter plays and had already run for a career-high 108 yards by halftime.

In the second half, he caught a screen pass, eluded the first line of defense and went 64 yards for a touchdown and a 24-10 lead. He finished with 123 yards rushing and 137 receiving.

Arkansas kept it close with a touchdown on a lucky bounce. Ryan Mallett threw deep for Greg Childs on third-and-long. Childs went up with two Ole Miss defenders, and the ball caromed right to Salters, who jogged the final few feet to the end zone.

That made the score look respectable, but the Rebels controlled this game. They made 31 first downs to Arkansas' 13 and outgained the Razorbacks 553-299.

Snead opened the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run, then threw a 25-yard scoring pass to Shay Hodge near the end of the first quarter. The Rebels kept Arkansas off balance in the second. Snead lined up out wide in the Wild Rebel formation, and when Ole Miss ran a reverse to him, he threw deep to Markeith Summers for a 39-yard gain that set up a field goal.

Arkansas finally scored to make it 17-7 on Knile Davis' 3-yard run with 2:15 left in the half.

Arkansas was coming off a 23-20 loss at Florida last weekend. The Razorbacks were upset about a few calls in that game, and the officials ended up being suspended by the league.

On the first play from scrimmage against Ole Miss, the Arkansas defense was called for a personal foul, and the day didn't get much better after that. Running back Michael Smith returned after missing last weekend's game with a bad hamstring, but he carried only six times for 35 yards. Mallett went 12 of 34 for 254 yards and was sacked four times.

Snead finished 22 of 33 with two interceptions. Arkansas has forced seven turnovers in the last two games and committed none, but the Razorbacks have two losses to show for it.