OXFORD, Miss., Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Eli Manning surpassed the 300-yard mark for the fourth time Saturday, breaking a school mark shared by his father, as Mississippi outlasted Vanderbilt, 45-38.
Manning completed 24 of 41 passes for 386 yards, including two long touchdowns of 79 yards to Chris Collins and 78 yards to Mike Espy in the third quarter.
It was Manning's second straight 300-yard game as he passed for 374 yards in last week's victory over Texas Tech. He broke the school career record for 300-yard games held by Archie Manning, Stewart Patridge and Romaro Miller.
Vashon Pearson's five-yard touchdown run gave the Rebels (3-1, 1-0 SEC West) a 38-17 lead with 50 seconds left in the third period.
But Vanderbilt (1-3, 0-2 SEC East) came storming back, tying the contest on Matthew Tant's three-yard run with 6:51 left in the contest.
Mississippi snapped the tie on a 23-yard run by Ronald McClendon with 3:12 remaining.
The Rebels were held to 107 yards on the ground, led by McClendon, who gained just 39 yards on eight carries.
Norval McKenzie and Kwane Doster each rushed for 101 yards for the Commodores while Jay Cutler completed 11 of 21 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns.
In the fourth quarter, Cutler tossed a seven-yard touchdown pass to Dan Stricker and scored on a one-yard run, pulling Vanderbilt within 38-31 with 9:13 to play.
Mississippi has won nine of the last 10 against Vanderbilt to open a 43-32-2 lead in the all-time series.
