OXFORD - It had been a while since Brandon Bolden placed the football across the goal line, two months and a day to be exact.

When he scored on a 45 yard run in the second quarter against Northern Arizona, it felt pretty good.

"Real good, real good," Bolden said. "Long time coming."

With Dexter McCluster being held out with soreness from the Auburn game, Bolden took the spotlight with 85 yards on 10 carries, all in the first half as Ole Miss led 31-14 at halftime.

"I tell you what, that one touchdown run was awesome," offensive coordinator Kent Austin said, "the tackles he broke, then accelerating into the end zone. It was a great run."

Bolden broke four tackles on the way to the end zone to give Ole Miss a 14-7 lead.

"Every time I say somebody, I just tried to spin out and keep going," Bolden said. "Eventually I saw nothing but green and blue, so I decided to run for it."

His totals also came behind an offensive line missing tackles Bradley Sowell and John Jerry, suspended for the game because of missed classes back in the spring.

Left guard Reid Neely moved to left tackle for Sowell and Bobbie Massie got his first career start, going to right tackle. Tank Washington also made his first career start, at left guard.

Bolden's last touchdown came against Memphis in the season opener on Sept. 6. The 85 yards were his highest total since rushing for 89 against Vanderbilt on Oct. 3.

"Every time I touched the ball, I tried to hit (the hole) as hard and as fast as I could," he said. "I did that and I feel pretty good about it."