Independence Bowl : Young’s 31 Completions Help Mississippi Win by 3

Sophomore quarterback Mark Young and junior flanker J.R. Ambrose set Independence Bowl passing and receiving records in the first half, but probation-bound Mississippi needed Bryan Owen’s 48-yard field goal early in the final quarter to defeat Texas Tech, 20-17, Saturday night and spoil Spike Dykes’ head coaching debut.

Young, who set records by completing 31 of his 50 passes for 343 yards, threw a third-quarter interception that let Texas Tech get back in the game. But he later set up Owen’s game-winning kick with a 13-yard pass to tight end Mario Perry.

It came five plays after Ambrose returned a kickoff 29 yards to the Rebels’ 40. Ambrose set a game record by catching 8 passes for 102 yards, all in the first half when Mississippi opened a 17-7 lead.

The 6-foot-2 1/2, 170-pound Young didn’t throw a touchdown pass, but he broke the Independence Bowl record of 19 completions by connecting on 21 passes in the first half.

He completed 4 of 6 for 56 yards as Ole Miss drove 62 yards in the first quarter and took a 7-0 lead on Willie Goodloe’s 1-yard run.

The Rebels made it 14-0 when Joe Mickles ran nine yards on the first play of the second period. That capped a 15-play, 80-yard drive during which Young completed 6 of 8 passes for 52 yards.

James Gray’s 1-yard run got Texas Tech back in the game at 14-7 midway through the period, but Owen kicked a 21-yard field goal one second before halftime to make it 17-7. Young drove the Rebels from their 21 to the Texas Tech 4 by completing 8 of 10 passes for 73 yards.

Texas Tech free safety Merv Scurlark intercepted a pass by Young and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown at 3:44 of the third quarter, and the Red Raiders tied the score on Scott Segrist’s 19-yard field goal two plays into the final period.

The 11th Independence Bowl attracted a record crowd of 46,369, breaking the mark of 45,034 set two years ago when Air Force played Virginia Tech.

Mississippi, which was hit with a two-year NCAA probation earlier this month and will be ineligible for a bowl game or TV appearances next season, finished with an 8-3-1 record.

Texas Tech, which lost Coach David McWilliams to the University of Texas two weeks ago, wound up 7-5. Dykes, the defensive coordinator, was given a five-year contract as McWilliams’ successor.