Rebels with a cause

Well, the time has come for Ole Miss to take its first big test in what is supposed to end with at least an SEC West title. The Ol' Ball coach has something to say about that so lets dig into this a little more.

With the school's highest ranking in nearly 40 years, Ole Miss opens SEC play with a trip to South Carolina. Jevan Snead, voted preseason first-team All-SEC by Steve Spurrier, is off to a so-so start with 5 TDs and 2 INTs. The Rebels are trying to win an SEC opener for the first time since 2003.Mississippi (2-0) has a short week to get ready for its SEC opener after defeating Southeastern Louisiana 52-6 on Saturday. The victory came after the team spent its bye week recovering from a case of the swine flu that affected more than a third of the roster."Jevan really came on (Saturday)." Nutt said. "I felt that he could have had five or six touchdown passes. He threw the ball very accurately."Mississippi, which expects to have star defensive end Greg Hardy(sprained left ankle) back this week, forced five turnovers Saturday and stopped Southeastern Louisiana on all 14 third-down attempts.Defensively you have to prove it every day," free safety Kendrick Lewis said. "What we did tonight doesn't mean anything at South Carolina."The Gamecocks (2-1, 0-1) are coming off their best offensive game of the season, but they haven't faced a defense as talented as Mississippi's.South Carolina compiled 516 total yards in Saturday's 38-16 win over Florida Atlantic. The Gamecocks led 17-16 at half, but scored on three straight possessions in the second half to break open the game.South Carolina's running game finally got on track, racking up 287 yards against the Owls after rushing for 222 in the first two games combined.The discovery of a running game meant quarterback Stephen Garcia didn't have to match the 53 passes and 313 yards he had in a 41-37 loss to then-No. 21 Georgia on Sept. 12."We run the ball like that, we're going to be pretty tough to beat," said Garcia, who completed 20 of 27 passes for 222 yards, throwing for one touchdown and running for another.
It likely won't be that easy to move the ball on the ground against a Mississippi team that limited Southeastern Louisiana to 86 rushing yards on 30 attempts."Things are going to get a lot tougher," running back Brian Maddox said.

This is becoming a tough choice to decide the winner but I still feel Ole Miss will pull this one out. I think they will make enough plays in the passing game to get it done. The Gamecock D struggles with the pass and tackling has become issue outside of Eric Norword. Should be fun! Plus the lovely Erin Andrews is on the sideline and that gives us plenty of joy.