By Don Williams | AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

DALLAS – Not too many years ago, bowl committees took a liking to Texas Tech, wanting to bring the Red Raiders’ exciting brand of offense to their town. The last two years, bowls milked more excitement out of Tech than they could have imagined.

Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell has led the Red Raiders to two consecutive rallies in bowl-game victories. Tech made history in rallying for a win two years ago in the Insight Bowl, then rallied late last season to beat Virginia in the Gator Bowl.

The No. 7 Red Raiders (11-1) want very much to win their third straight bowl and sixth in the last seven years when they take on No. 25 Mississippi (8-4) in a 1 p.m. game today at the Cotton Bowl. But they don’t want to win the way they’ve won the last two.

“We’re practicing to not make it as exciting,” senior tackle Rylan Reed said this week. “I personally like bigger wins by bigger margins. Anyway, we’re not going for any heroic stuff, and hopefully everything will work out.”

Tech won last year’s Gator Bowl 31-28, rallying in the final four minutes from a 28-14 deficit against Virginia. That was nothing compared to the 2006 Insight Bowl in which Tech stunned Minnesota 44-41 in overtime after trailing 38-7 in the third quarter.

Is there more in store?

“I would hope not,” senior center Stephen Hamby said. “I think that we’re going to come out a lot faster. We’re more calm. We’re not really antsy at all, so I don’t see a miracle comeback in our future.”

Partially obscured by Tech’s 5-1 record in the postseason since 2002 is the fact that the Red Raiders have played thoroughly listless first halves the last two years in Tempe, Ariz., and Jacksonville, Fla.

Senior quarterback Graham Harrell directed both comebacks and will play his last college game today. Based on what he’s seen over the past week in workouts at Texas Stadium, Harrell hopes he doesn’t have to engineer any more rallies. He knows the nature of college football, though.

“Maybe we just like the drama; I don’t know,” Harrell said. “We try to be as sharp as we can. This week, we’ve been pretty sharp. Who says we’re not going to get down again, but if we do, we’ve been there before. It’s not only in bowl wins; we’ve been down in regular-season games and had to come back. With the offense we have, we can score pretty quick and put a lot of points up in a hurry.

“Hopefully this year we can get off to a little faster start than what we’ve gotten off to in the last two bowl games.”

Ole Miss, the runnerup to Southeastern Conference West Division champion Alabama, might be capable of pouncing if given the leads Minnesota and Virginia built against Tech.

First-year head coach Houston Nutt’s reputation is that of a master motivator who wins his share of big games. Teams coached by Nutt have beaten each of the last two national champions. In the last game of his 10-year tenure at Arkansas, the Razorbacks knocked off then-defending champion and No. 1 LSU 50-48 in triple overtime at the end of the 2007 regular season. In late September, his first Ole Miss team upset defending champion, then No. 4 Florida 31-30.

Though Tech is no longer a top-5 team – the Red Raiders were No. 2 as recently as Nov. 21 – Nutt has gone 5-8 against top-5 opponents. His team was unranked in all five upsets and the visiting team in four.

“He’s a got a history of winning big games,” Reed said, “so we’re going to have make sure our best shows up.”

Ole Miss, 3-9 last year, is trying to cap one of college football’s best turnarounds with a win in January. Nutt repeated this week what he’d said in early December: No one on his roster had been to a bowl game, so the Rebels were having a ball with the experience.

“It’s just been awesome,” Nutt said. “They’ve loved every minute of it.”

If the Rebels have to prove their preparation has been sound, the Raiders have to prove likewise about their motivation.

“We’ve never won 12 games in a season, we’ve never won a Cotton Bowl, so we’re playing for a lot,” Reed said. “We’re excited about the opportunity.”

If the Rebels can put the week’s off-field fun behind them, they have the personnel to get the job done. Quarterback Jevan Snead’s 23 touchdown passes were second in the SEC during the regular season, and speed receiver Mike Wallace has caught six touchdown passes in the last five games, posting at least 99 yards receiving in four.

Tech cornerback L.A. Reed is out with an injury, and sophomore LaRon Moore will make his first career start.

Ole Miss leads the nation in tackles for loss per game (8.83) and led the SEC in sacks (36).

Ole Miss defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix says his defensive linemen have to live up to their reputations and keep Harrell from getting into a rhythm.

“He’s a cool quarterback,” Nix said. “He’s been in a lot of ball games, and he understands where the pressure’s coming from. If we could get pressure from our front four, then we’ve got a chance to do what we want to coverage-wise.”

Cotton Bowl: Texas Tech vs. Mississippi

COVERAGE

Radio: 10 a.m. on KKAM (1340 AM); noon on other Texas Tech Sports Network stations. TV:1 p.m., FOX (channel 34; Suddenlink Cable channel 10). Pat Summerall (play-by-play), Brian Baldinger (analyst), Jeanne Zelasko (sideline) and Krista Voda (sideline) comprise the broadcast team.

RECORDS

Texas Tech 11-1, 7-1 in the Big 12 Conference; Mississippi 8-4, 5-3 in the Southeastern Conference

TICKETS

Sold out.

FAST FACTS

Tech QB Graham Harrell needs 253 yards to become the only player in NCAA history to have two 5,000-yard passing seasons. He threw for 5,298 yards last season. … Ole Miss is 4-0 in bowls against Big 12 Conference teams since the Big 12 formed. The Rebels won Independence bowls against Tech in 1998, Oklahoma in 1999 and Nebraska in 2002 and beat Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl after the 2003 season. … Tech is 2-4-1 in bowls against SEC teams, having beaten Auburn (1954 Gator) and Tennessee (1973 Gator). … Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt is 2-5 in bowls. Tech coach Mike Leach is 5-3. … Tech has scored 535 points this season and averages 44.6. The school records are 552 and 42.5, set in 2003. … Ole Miss DE Emmanuel Stephens committed to Tech last winter, but changed his mind and signed with the Rebels. He played in all 12 games this season, recording 18 tackles, 51/2 tackles for loss and a sack. Stephens attended Houston Waltrip and Blinn College in Brenham. … Tech FL Mike Crabtree and RB Shannon Woods have 40 touchdowns apiece, two short of third-place Ricky Williams on the school career list. … Three Ole Miss assistants – James Shibest, Ron Dickerson and Kim Dameron – played college football at Arkansas where each played multiple games against Tech. Shibest was a wide receiver, Dickerson a running back and Dameron a defensive back. … Tech is 0-3 in the Cotton Bowl, losing in 1939, 1995 and 2006. Ole Miss is 2-1, winning in 1956 and 2004 and losing in 1962. … Tech’s 1,427 rushing yards this season in the most in Mike Leach’s nine years as head coach.

FORECAST

Mostly sunny. High temperature near 73 degrees. South wind to 5 mph. No precipitation.

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