Mississippi State 44, Rice 7
When: 4:00 PM ET, Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Where: Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, Tennessee
Temperature:
47°
Head Official:
Ron Cherry
Attendance:
57846
By SportsDirect Inc.
Mississippi State 44, Rice 7: Dak Prescott threw for 283 yards and three scores and added a pair of rushing touchdowns as the Bulldogs dominated the Owls in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
Prescott completed 17-of-28 passes and formed a strong connection with Jameon Lewis, who hauled in nine catches for a school-record 220 yards. Prescott led Mississippi State (7-6) with 78 rushing yards as the Bulldogs closed out the season with three straight victories.
Taylor McHargue was held to 8-of-15 passing for 84 yards as Rice (10-4) managed just 145 total yards. Charles Ross rushed for a 1-yard touchdown but the Owls could not avoid the largest margin of defeat in Liberty Bowl history.
Ross’ score came with 6:41 left in the first quarter and gave Rice a 7-0 lead before Mississippi completely took over. Prescott hit LaDarius Perkins with a 10-yard pass to tie it and Ashton Shumpert’s 1-yard run put the Bulldogs on top.
Prescott found Malcolm Johnson for a 13-yard TD and hit Artimas Samuel for a 4-yard score with 10 seconds left in the half to send the Bulldogs into the break up 27-7. Prescott took to the ground in the third quarter, scoring from 5 and 11 yards out as Mississippi State put the game away.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Lewis nearly doubled his previous career high (113) in receiving yards. … Rice, which won Conference USA, had a four-game winning streak come to an end. … Rice came in ranked 15th nationally in rushing offense but managed just 61 yards on 32 carries.
Top Game Performances
Rushing
Rice |
|
Mississippi State |
Charles Ross
|
Player |
Dak Prescott
|
10 |
Attempts |
14 |
28 |
Yards |
78 |
2.8 |
Avg Yards |
5.6 |
1 |
Touchdowns |
2 |
0 |
Long |
0 |
Receiving
Rice |
|
Mississippi State |
Dennis Parks
| Player |
Jameon Lewis
|
3 |
Receptions |
9 |
38 |
Yards |
220 |
12.7 |
Avg Yards |
24.4 |
0 |
Touchdowns |
0 |
0 |
Long |
0 |
Team Stats Summary
|
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sck |
FF |
Rice
|
145 |
61 |
84 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1.0 |
2 |
Mississippi State
|
533 |
239 |
294 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
4.0 |
0 |