OXFORD — Dexter’s big day locked up a nice bowl for Ole Miss.

No one in the history of Ole Miss football has run for more yards in a single game than Dexter McCluster did against Tennessee Saturday afternoon at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

McCluster rushed for 282 yards and scored four touchdowns on runs of 15, 23, 32 and 71 yards as Ole Miss became bowl-eligible with an impressive 42-17 rout of the Volunteers.

“Today was the best. I didn’t expect to run that much. The whole line did great and it was good to have that kind of success because Tennessee was chirping more than any other team we’ve played. Even after the last touchdown, they kept talking,” McCluster said.

McCluster talked with his feet. He broke the Ole Miss single-game record of 242 yards by Dou Innocent against Mississippi State in 1995. He also had 40 yards receiving to set the all-purpose single game mark at 324. The 282 rushing yards were also the most Tennessee has given up to one runner in 113 years of playing football.

“He was a great player today. Broke the school record and I think we broke the school record for most missed tackles in a game,” said first-year Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin. “I was shocked by the outcome. We had no turnovers, did not give up any big returns and have very few penalities. Ole Miss showed today that they have a real good team.”

Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt credited a lineup change for producing 492 yards in total offense in the Rebels’ biggest win since last January’s Cotton Bowl triumph over Texas Tech. Ole Miss improved to 7-3 overall and 3-3 in the Southeastern Conference, and can likely earn a return trip to the Cotton Bowl by winning its last two games against LSU and Mississippi State.

“We moved Jonathan Massey to guard and that gave us two bigs side by side. They just kind of lost Dexter behind those two big guys,” Nutt said.

Once past the Tennessee line, McCluster spun, dove and cut past the rest of the Vols defense.

The 71-yard TD run that pushed Ole Miss out to a 35-17 lead with 13:59 left in the game was a thing of beauty.

“That play was designed to go four yards. He took it to the house. He got propped up by John Jerry and our whole plan was to get to the next level,” Nutt said.

Another impressive McCluster run was a 6-yard gain on an option that set up Brandon Bolden’s 1-yard TD run with 1:18 left in the third quarter. Taking a pitch, McCluster shook off a defender and maintained his balance with his left hand. Then he got up and took on two more Vols before diving to the 1.

Ole Miss got off to an impressive start by going 60 yards in just four plays to take a 7-0 lead. McCluster got the score on a 15-yard draw play. The score was set up by Snead’s 18-yard pass to Hodge and a 22-yard reverse by Jesse Grandy.

Tennessee (5-5, 2-4) had two straight three-and-outs to begin the game, but after a short Ole Miss punt it finally got going from midfield. A 21-yard run by Montario Hardesty was followed by Crompton’s 16-yard TD pass to Jeff Cottam.

Ole Miss quickly answered. McCluster ripped off an outside run for 20 yards. That was followed by a 14-yard pass from Snead to Hodge. McCluster scored two plays later, going to the left sideline for a 23-yard touchdown and a 14-7 lead with 1:12 left in the first quarter.

Crompton led the Vols to a tying score when he lofted a 23-yard TD pass to Denarius Moore.

Back came McCluster. He accounted for 64 of the 75 yards in the Rebels’ go-ahead drive, including the score on a 32-yard run. Joshua Shene’s PAT made it 21-14.

Ole Miss had a chance to add to the lead before the half. Hodge dropped a potential 11-yard TD pass from Snead. Shene then missed a 28-yard field goal to keep the game at 21-14 at the half.

Tennessee cut it to 21-17 on a 27-yard field goal by Daniel Lincoln.

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com