UConn, Ole Miss end on high notes

Andre Dixon rushed for 126 yards and a touchdown as resilient Connecticut ended a trying season with a 20-7 win yesterday over South Carolina in the Papajohns.com Bowl in Birmingham, Ala.

Bouncing back from the Oct. 18 stabbing death of cornerback Jasper Howard, the Huskies (8-5) won their final three regular-season games to reach a bowl.

"Before the game, I told the guys, 'I challenge you to put everything together and do it for Jazz.' I think that's definitely what happened," said Dixon, who carried the football 33 times and was named the game's MVP.

UConn had a pristine performance, with zero penalties, and the nation's 95th-rated pass defense throttled South Carolina (7-6).

The Gamecocks' Stephen Garcia completed 16 of 38 passes for 129 yards; he ran for 56 yards on 15 carries.

"The first thing I want to do is apologize to about 30,000 Gamecocks who came here to see a football game, and we couldn't put one on," coach Steve Spurrier said.

Cotton Bowl. Dexter McCluster gave Mississippi fans a finale to remember, rushing for 182 yards and two TDs, including the go-ahead 2-yard run with 4 minutes, 3 seconds left as the Rebels (9-4) beat No. 21 Oklahoma State, 21-7, in Arlington Texas.

He also had an 86-yard TD run in the second quarter.

"We knew we were going to run Dexter's legs off today," coach Houston Nutt said. "It's our last game together, our last 60 minutes."

Both teams were ranked in the preseason top 10, but hit some huge potholes during the season. Yesterday's game was filled with mistakes.

Ole Miss committed five turnovers, but Oklahoma State (9-4) had seven - six in the fourth quarter. Each was stopped on fourth and goal from the 1, and Mississippi missed two field goal tries.

Liberty Bowl. Alex Tejada kicked a 37-yard field goal in overtime to give Arkansas (8-5) a 20-17 win over East Carolina (9-5) in Memphis.

The Pirates' Ben Hartman missed two field goal tries in the final 63 seconds of regulation (both from 39 yards) and a third (35 yards) in the extra session. Tejada, who has struggled with pressure situations himself, then converted his attempt to end the game.

Arkansas won despite going 0 of 13 on third down. ECU had a 24-10 edge in first downs, largely because of the running of Dominique Lindsay (151 yards and a TD).

International Bowl. Mike Ford ran for 207 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown, as South Florida (8-5) beat Northern Illinois, 27-3, in Toronto.

B.J. Daniels threw two scoring passes to A.J. Love as the Bulls scored 24 unanswered points in the second half.

The defeat for Northern Illinois (7-6) was the 14th straight for a MAC team in a bowl game, including Temple's loss to UCLA in last week's EagleBank Bowl.

Leach situation. A Texas Tech athletic trainer told university officials he did not agree with Mike Leach's treatment of receiver Adam James after the player was found to have a concussion.

In an affidavit released yesterday by the university, trainer Steve Pincock said he told James he was "sorry" for having placed the player inside an equipment shed.

Led by interim coach Ruffin McNeill, Texas Tech played Michigan State last night in the Alamo Bowl.

Noteworthy. Temple received a commitment from Tyler Murphy, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound quarterback from Wethersfield, Conn. . . . Tennessee safety Eric Berry, regarded as a likely top-five pick, will enter the NFL draft; California running back Jahvid Best also will turn pro.