DALLAS — There were backflips across midfield, 50-yard dashes carrying oversized flags and a team-wide sprint to the student section. Ole Miss waited five years to feel this good and the Rebels were going to enjoy every second of it.

A season of revival that already included an upset at the Swamp culminated yesterday with a 47-34 victory over No. 8 Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl, sending No. 20 Mississippi into the offseason with a six-game winning streak and the anticipation of how coach Houston Nutt will build on his terrific debut year.

"I wish we could keep this team and bring it back," Nutt said. Then, turning to some seniors next to him, he barked, "You can't leave!"

Seconds later, he was so giddy that he told Cotton Bowl officials, "We'll make the announcement we'll come back next year, right now. Let's go!"

To understand the excitement, appreciate how far this program has come: from 3-8 last season, winless in the SEC and bowl-less since 2003 (back when Eli Manning was a senior) to 9-4 and likely to grab a season-ending ranking in the teens.

It's also worth noting those four losses were by a combined 19 points.

Better still, the surge to this warm-fuzzy finish began when the Rebels were 3-4 and smarting from consecutive losses after their road upset of then-No. 4 Florida.

In the final Cotton Bowl played in the stadium of the same name, the Red Raiders (11-2) converted a pair of early turnovers into a 14-0 lead. A team that stumbled on its way to the Big 12 and national championship games, then got left out of the BCS entirely, appeared to be channeling the disappointment against the SEC's fourth-best team, according to the polls.

But quarterback Jevan Snead led the Rebels to touchdowns on their next three drives. A field goal on the following series put Ole Miss ahead for the first time, just before halftime.

Once Marshay Green returned an interception 65 yards for a touchdown and a 10-point lead early in the third quarter, the Rebels wouldn't be denied.

Snead, a Texas native who began his career with the Longhorns, was 18-of-29 for 292 yards and three touchdowns. After his interception that put Tech up 14-0, the Rebels didn't have another turnover on the way to 515 yards of total offense.

"We would have liked to have finished on a better note," said Tech's Graham Harrell, who was 36-of-58 for a Cotton Bowl-record 364 yards and four touchdowns, and became both the NCAA career leader in touchdown passes (134) and the first player with multiple 5,000-yard seasons.