ESPN College Football

Kansas State coach Bill Snyder says less about less than any coach in the Big 12, and is making no exception about the contest to succeed Collin Klein as Wildcats quarterback.

Snyder spoke with the media for the first time this spring Thursday, and through five practices, if there was any development in the quarterback race, he didn't offer much of an update.

"We have had some ups and downs. I have been pleased with the progress that they are making, not necessarily with the consistency, but they have given us reason to believe that they are very capable," Snyder said. "It is just a matter of doing some of the things that they do on a very regular and consistent basis."

Both Daniel Sams, last season's backup, and junior-college transfer Jake Waters are working with the first team, but Snyder's not providing much in the way of readable tea leaves in regard to either having an edge this early.

"I think that they have been very competitive. I appreciate that and they work very hard in trying to develop their game. They do a nice job of helping each other," Snyder said. "I am proud of Daniel -- even though Jake is making it very competitive for him, he is doing all that he can to help Jake. Jake is a bright young guy and picks things up very quickly. It is just about the consistency and being able to do it the same way every time."

Sams obviously has more experience in the system and knowing what's expected, but it's definitely easy to see either player winning the job. Sams' speed provides a lot of excitement, but I have questions about his proficiency as a passer after seeing him play in person for the second half against Oklahoma State this year. Waters' reputation precedes him, but how well he navigates the transition from junior college to Division I will determine his future. That kind of thing is so unpredictable.

"He is a smart guy and is picking up things a lot quicker than I expected him to," receiver Tramaine Thompson said of Waters. "He has been definitely been putting in the film work and spending a lot of time working. Daniel has been helping him out a lot and they have been kind of helping each other out through this whole process."

Maybe Waters is Cam Newton, quietly preparing another run at the Big 12 title for the Cats. Maybe he's a backup that just provides insurance for Sams. Maybe he's somewhere in the middle, like last year's big juco prize: Quarterback Bo Wallace, who threw for 2,994 yards and 22 scores for Ole Miss last season.

It's too early to tell.

OXFORD, Miss. -- Hunched over his desktop computer while in his black, leather rolling chair inside an office full of boxes ready to be moved to a new headquarters on a satisfyingly warm day in late March, Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze talks on the phone with an assistant about a player’s grades.

The news isn’t great, but after a few minutes sliding around in his chair, a hint of relief hits Freeze’s voice when he realizes the semester isn’t quite over yet. There’s still time.

Seconds later, he’s back over the computer, this time listening to a link of a pastor rapping her sermon. Her verse barely takes minutes, leaving Freeze jokingly (or not) wondering what could be if he was a part of her congregation.

“A sermon in a minute, 40 [seconds]?” Freeze says with his classic southern drawl and pleasant boyish laughter. “I’d love that.”

For a second, Freeze is relaxed as he reclines, props his Ole Miss-flavored Nikes on his desk and greets the day with an ear-to-ear grin.

He’s only a couple of hours removed from the spring’s first scrimmage, surrounded by boxed chaos, working with grade issues and dealing with a mammoth hype machine parked in the Grove after a surprisingly successful first season and a historic national signing day. But while his mind moves a mile a minute, he’s finally stationary.

Soon, his body will follow his mind, as he analyzes his inadequate team depth, searches for more SEC-caliber athletes and attempts to handle the newfound attention his players are receiving.

“Obviously, they’ve got a lot of people telling them how great we did last year, even though it was just seven wins,” Freeze said. “It was a good first year and then follow it up with the recruiting class, so they’re hearing from a lot of places how well things are going and how we should do very, very well next year, but they better not lose sight of how we won those games.

“We have to temper our expectations some. Yeah, we had a good recruiting class, but so did everybody else in our conference. And some of them have had five, six classes like that in a row. We’ve got one.”

(Read full post)

OXFORD, Miss. -- A phone call and a catchy Internet video/jingle added fuel to Donte Moncrief’s late-season fire in 2012.

Moncrief, who would rather say more with his play than his words, became a YouTube sensation last year when the group King Kobraz’s “Rebelz” video, better known as “Feed Moncrief,” went viral just days before the Egg Bowl showdown with archrival Mississippi State.

(Oh, look, there's a second version!)

But the more reserved Moncrief had no idea his popularity was booming until his mother called him and told him to search “feed Moncrief” on YouTube.

Perplexed, Moncrief followed orders and was shocked that people took the time to make him the focus of the ever-popular student-run, dance video. But the attention he received actually increased his motivation heading into the Rebels’ crucial season finale.

"I knew I had to start making big plays so I told Coach [Hugh Freeze] to believe in me and give me shots at going deep,” Moncrief told ESPN.com last week. “He started trusting me, gave me big shots and I made big plays."

Those big shots came in the form of seven catches for a career-high 173 yards and three touchdowns against the Bulldogs, helping propel the Rebels to their first win over Mississippi State since 2008 and their first bowl berth since 2009.

"Coming into that week … we knew that [Mississippi State’s defensive backs] were supposed to be the top in the SEC and the best and they were talking a lot of noise during the week during interviews,” Moncrief said. “The coaches were telling us that every day and telling us to think about that and let it piss you off to the point to where you want to go super hard every day.

"We went super hard, and when it got to game time, we weren't the ones that were going to talk; we were just going to play and show them what we had.

"It was a good feeling that we actually beat them like that because they had a big head with those [eight] wins and we knew we could come in and beat them if we wanted to."

Moncrief finished the season catching 27 passes for 439 yards and five touchdowns in the Rebels’ final five games and he’s hoping to build off his late-season surge. The Internet is still buzzing about him, but he insists it hasn’t gone to his head. He’s taken the humble approach and merely uses the video and song as either a motivator or a good laugh.

So far, his teammates are pretty satisfied with his spring play, and quarterback Bo Wallace has been amazed by the focus the rising junior has shown.

"You see Donte playing with so much confidence right now and he almost makes it look easy out there,” Wallace said.

"I expect greatness out of Donte. He wants it so bad and you can see the focus that he has every day that he comes out here. He does want to be the best receiver in the SEC, he's not just telling you that."

Moncrief said his improvements stem from his increased study habits and his dedication to detail. He’s reading the defense better and making sure he’s aware of all the mismatches he sees on the field.

"It got to a point where it started to feel like high school, it got so easy," said Moncrief, who caught 66 passes for 979 yards and 10 touchdowns last year.

The “sky’s the limit” when it comes to Moncrief’s potential, Freeze said, but his star is still growing, which is scary. He has a great combination of size, speed, strength and toughness, which causes a lot of issues for defenders with the space he works within Freeze’s spread offense.

Moncrief might have missed out on being an All-SEC performer in 2012, but Freeze isn’t envious of the teams that have to face what should be an even better product in 2013.

"We're glad he's on our team, that's for sure," Freeze said.

OXFORD, Miss. -- Bo Wallace was known for a lot of things last season. Being stationary wasn’t one of them.

For the past few months, that’s basically what Wallace has been, as Ole Miss’ gun-slinging quarterback has been stuck on the sideline for all of the Rebels’ practices this spring as he recovers from offseason shoulder surgery.

He’s been watching backups Barry Brunetti and Maikhail Miller have all the fun, while standing back and taking mental reps.

“The first couple of months were tough on me because I was so bored and I wasn’t able to be out there with the guys,” Wallace told ESPN.com Thursday.

It was a stir-crazy kind of bored.

With his shoulder out of commission, Wallace was forced to completely shut his body down. He had to run in a pool because running on solid ground jarred his shoulder. Trainers could only move his arm a little each day in order to loosen it. And he couldn’t even stretch because of the pain.

Wallace went from football player to statue.

But in a couple of weeks, Wallace expects to be back throwing, well, anything. Wallace sees a doctor the first Wednesday of every month and he’s hoping his next visit will end with him being cleared to throw little medicine balls and maybe a football.

Sitting out hasn’t been ideal, but it’s been necessary for Wallace, who spent most of 2012 with nagging shoulder pain. He originally hurt it against Tulane on Sept. 22, but team doctors didn’t think he’d need surgery. Another hit late in the Rebels’ 30-27 win over Arkansas five weeks later changed that, as they determined he’d either have to rest or push surgery back and play through the pain.

Wallace chose the pain.

"I probably could have sat out a couple of games,” he said, “but you're not going to do that if you're a competitor."

With his shoulder aching, Wallace said he played more conservatively and had less power behind his throws. Mentally, he lost his confidence in deep passes because he literally couldn’t deliver them.

"I was used to being that gunslinger who could fit it in and then toward the end of the year I was lucky if I could throw a ball 45 yards,” Wallace said.

That became obvious when he was pulled late in the loss to LSU because his coaches knew his arm was shot. Wallace said that was the most painful game of the season.

To help protect himself more last season, Wallace took lessons in sliding. Coaches placed a padded mat on the turf inside the Rebels’ indoor practice facility and Wallace would run and attempt to slide onto the mat. It wasn’t very pretty.

"It's so awkward because you want to keep running and you're going full speed to slide that way,” he said. “I'm not a baseball player or anything so it's not natural for me to do that."

But it saved him a few times late in the season, especially in the Mississippi State game where he found himself sliding more than he’d like.

Now, Wallace can’t slide, so he’s helping himself by being more of a student of the game. When he isn’t calling out protections and mentally dissecting every detail of every offense play, including what works and doesn’t in certain protections and against certain defensive looks, he’s examining all 17 major mistakes he made last season by watching his “Interception Reel” with offensive coordinator Dan Werner.

While Wallace passed for nearly 3,000 yards and had 22 touchdowns, he also threw a league-high 17 interceptions. In losses to Texas, Texas A&M and LSU Wallace totaled eight interceptions and Ole Miss lost the last two by a combined nine points.

“He knows that that's No. 1 on his list of things to improve if we want to be next-level stuff," Hugh Freeze said.

It’s hard to eliminate mistakes when you aren’t taking live reps, so Wallace is helping his backups. If he can’t cut down errors, he’s making sure they do by helping them with reads and finding defensive holes.

It isn’t as exciting as actually going through the motions, but it’s helping him grow and beats the statue-like alternative.

Thanks to 24-point first half and commanding performance by its defense throughout the afternoon, Ole Miss captured its first bowl victory since 2009 with a 38-17 win over Pittsburgh in front of a sea of red that was a part of a record crowd of 59,135 for the BBVA Compass Bowl.

The SEC improved to 5-3 in bowl games, while the Big East ends bowl play with a 3-2 record.

It was over when: Ole Miss back up quarterback Barry Brunetti pushed forward on a quarterback keeper for a 1-yard touchdown to make it 31-10 Rebels with 21 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Game ball goes to: First-year coach Hugh Freeze. He didn't throw any passes or make any tackles, but he had his players very ready for Saturday's bowl game. This game meant a lot to players and fans, and the Rebels came out fast on offense and hunkered down on defense. After missing out on a bowl game the last two seasons, and winning just six total games during that span, Ole Miss finished the year 7-6 after a major culture overhaul thanks to Freeze's guidance.

Stat of the game: Ole Miss held the rushing advantage over Pittsburgh 222-81.

Stat of the game II: Pittsburgh defenders Jason Hendricks and Shayne Hale combined for 30 tackles and 21 of those tackles were solo.

Best call: All year, Freeze rotated his quarterbacks throughout games. Bo Wallace was always the starter but Brunetti would come in for obvious running plays. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it was a little too obvious, but it certainly worked on Saturday. Wallace finished the game with 151 passing yards and three touchdowns to two interceptions on 22 of 32 passing. He also ran for 27 yards, while Brunetti totaled 34 yards, but helped really open up a running game that finished with 222 yards and 4.6 yards per carry.

Unsung heroes of the game: Running back Jeff Scott left the game early with a hamstring injury, leaving freshman Jaylen Walton to help carry the load. He kept the chains moving for the Rebels, carrying the ball 10 times for 56 yards. He averaged 5.6 yards per carry in the process. Linebacker Mike Marry has been one of the most underrated players in the SEC this year and he had a very productive day. He was all over Pitt's backfield, registering four tackles for loss. He finished the day with seven total tackles, a sack and a forced fumble.

What Ole Miss learned: This team brought a lot of fight to Birmingham, Ala. When Scott went down with his hamstring injury, there had to be some concern on that Ole Miss sideline that the Rebels' offense might lose some of its rhythm. It didn't. The Rebels continued to work the ground game with other options and just wore down the Panthers up front. That running game helped open up the passing game and helped the Rebels enter the offseason with a ton of momentum after this win.

What Pitt learned: It had no offense without star senior running back Ray Graham. He had a heck of a career with the Panthers, but a hamstring injury kept him out of the BBVA Compass Bowl, and the Panthers just couldn't replace his production on the field. Pitt ran the ball 36 times for 81 yards, averaging just 2.3 yards per carry. Rushel Shell replaced Graham, rushing for 79 yards on 25 carries. That lack of a running game severely limited the Panthers through the air as well, as quarterback Tino Sunseri passed for just 185 yards.

Here are three keys for Ole Miss in its matchup with Pittsburgh in Saturday's BBVA Compass Bowl (1 p.m. ET, ESPN):

1. Patience is a virtue: Pittsburgh has a pretty sturdy defense. Even with those six losses on the season, the Panthers' defense ranks 17th nationally. The Panthers have allowed just 14 passing plays of 25 yards or more, tied for sixth nationally. That means Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace will have to be patient with his throws. Pittsburgh intercepted 13 passes on the season and allowed just 12 touchdowns through the air, so Wallace can't take a lot of chances with this defense -- and he has taken a lot of chances this season. Wallace has thrown 15 interceptions on the season, so his careless play could really cost the Rebels on Saturday. Pittsburgh is stingy enough that Wallace doesn't need to help it out.

2. Bring the pressure: Ole Miss' defensive line has been a pleasant surprise for the Rebels this season. It was supposed to be a weak point, but it came on in a big way. The Rebels enter the game second in the SEC in sacks (34) and tackles for loss (92). The Panthers have struggled this season in pass protection, so if this Ole Miss line can play like it has for most of the year, Pittsburgh could be in trouble. Quarterback Tino Sunseri has been pretty efficient this season, throwing for 3,103 yards with 19 touchdowns to two interceptions. He hasn't thrown a pick since Sept. 15, so the Rebels have to put him in awkward situations in order to force him to finally make some mistakes. The defense has been better compared to last season, but it showed it isn't built for a shootout. Pitt hasn't really been involved in any, but if the Rebels can't get good pressure on Sunseri, one might break out anyway.

3. Run, run and run some more: The Panthers have held their own for the most part on defense, but if the Rebels are going to be successful for 60 minutes, they have to get a solid run game going. Ole Miss averages 169.7 rushing yards per game, while Pitt is surrendering just 129.1. That's good enough for 25th nationally, so the Rebels have to establish a running game to open things up for Wallace and the passing game. Running back Jeff Scott has to be a big factor. He's the Rebels' best rushing weapon, and while he isn't the biggest thing out there, he can turn regular runs into big plays with his speed and elusiveness. He'll have help with Wallace and with athlete Randall Mackey, who will line up in the backfield as well, but Ole Miss has to be patient. Running the ball effectively will be key to wearing down the Panthers' defense.

Predicting in the preseason which newcomers are going to have the biggest impact is always a crapshoot.

Case in point: How many of you out there had Johnny Manziel on your Heisman Trophy lists back in August?

We didn’t even include him among the five choices in a SportsNation poll, which asked you to pick the SEC Newcomer of the Year. The winner, by the way, was Missouri freshman receiver Dorial Green-Beckham.

It’s a little easier now that the regular season is behind us, so we’ve ranked the top 10 newcomers in the SEC this season. True freshmen, redshirt freshmen and any transfers playing their first season in the SEC were eligible.

Here goes:

1. Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M: An easy call for the top spot. Manziel, a redshirt freshman, is the front-runner to win the Heisman Trophy. He’s accounted for 43 touchdowns and broke Cam Newton’s SEC record for total offense in a season with 4,600 yards. “Johnny Football” carved apart SEC defenses this season, and that’s not supposed to happen.

2. Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia: One half of Georgia’s famed “Gurshall” duo, Gurley showcased the kind of size, speed and power rarely seen from a true freshman in this league. He’s rushed for 1,138 yards to lead all SEC running backs and has scored 15 touchdowns, which includes a 100-yard kickoff return. He’s averaging 6.5 yards per carry.

3. Cordarrelle Patterson, WR/KR, Tennessee: Transferring in from junior college, Patterson is still raw and not the most polished route runner, but he emerged as one of the most electrifying players in the SEC. He leads the league in all-purpose yardage (154.8 yards per game) and scored touchdowns four different ways -- rushing, receiving, kickoff return and punt return.

4. T.J. Yeldon, RB, Alabama: One of those guys who can do a little bit of everything, Yeldon has 847 rushing yards and has scored 11 touchdowns. He’s already surpassed the freshman rushing totals of both Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson and still has two games to play.

5. Mike Evans, WR, Texas A&M: While most eyes have been on Manziel in Aggieland, Evans has also had a monster freshman season. The 6-foot-5, 218-pound redshirt freshman is fourth in the SEC with 75 catches and one of four players in the league to surpass 1,000 receiving yards (1,022).

6. Denzel Nkemdiche, LB, Ole Miss: The older Nkemdiche can play a little football, too. His younger brother, Robert Nkemdiche, is the No. 1 high school prospect in the country. But all Denzel Nkemdiche did this season was lead all SEC freshmen with 78 total tackles, including 12 tackles for loss. A redshirt freshman, Nkemdiche also has four forced fumbles and three interceptions.

7. Evan Boehm, OG, Missouri: He came to Missouri as one of the most coveted guard prospects in the country and didn’t disappoint. Boehm became the first-ever true freshman to start under Gary Pinkel on the offensive line and was the only player on the Tigers’ injury-ravaged line to start every game at the same position this season, left guard.

8. Keith Marshall, RB, Georgia: The other half of “Gurshall” was plenty explosive in his own right. Marshall, also a true freshman, has 720 rushing yards and eight touchdowns and is averaging 6.7 yards per carry. He has four touchdown runs of 52 yards or longer.

9. Jeremy Hill, RB, LSU: The Tigers waited until later in the season to unleash the powerful true freshman, and he enters the bowl game with a team-leading 631 yards and 10 touchdowns. He’s only started in four games, but had a pair of long touchdown runs in the fourth quarter to help salt away wins over South Carolina and Texas A&M.

10. Bo Wallace, QB, Ole Miss: Even though he turned the ball over too much in his first season after transferring in from junior college, Wallace made a ton of plays to help steer the Rebels to a bowl game. He’s fourth in the SEC in total offense with 3,206 yards and has accounted for 28 touchdowns.

A few newcomers that just missed the cut were Florida defensive end Dante Fowler (true freshman), Alabama receiver Amari Cooper (true freshman), Tennessee noseguard Daniel McCullers (junior college transfer), Mississippi State middle linebacker Benardrick McKinney (redshirt freshman), Mississippi State defensive end Denico Autry (junior college transfer) and LSU cornerback Jalen Mills (true freshman).

There's probably no better way for Ole Miss to claim bowl eligibility than with a win against its arch-rival in the 109th edition of the Egg Bowl. The Rebels reached the magical number of six wins Saturday night in a 41-24 pasting of Mississippi State -- Ole Miss' first win in the series since 2008.

Simply put, the Bulldogs had no answer for an explosive Ole Miss offense that picked up right where it left off in last week's explosive performance in the loss to LSU. Sophomore quarterback Bo Wallace had an impressive performance, but the story of the game has to be sophomore receiver Donte Moncrief, who abused the Mississippi State secondary on seven receptions for 173 yards and three touchdowns. The gaudy yardage total is a new career high for Moncrief, who had set a personal best just last week with 161 yards.

Mississippi State kept pace in the first half with help from its defense and special teams. Bulldogs kick returner Jameon Lewis notched the longest play in Egg Bowl history when he returned Ole Miss' first kickoff of the night 100 yards for a touchdown. The defense got in on the act when Mississippi State picked off two Wallace passes in its red zone to kill two Ole Miss scoring opportunities.

Bulldogs wide receiver Chad Bumphis had plenty of production himself, as he tallied six receptions for 146 yards and two scores. But after forcing a 17-17 halftime tie, Mississippi State fell behind. The Rebels outrushed the Bulldogs 234-30 en route to 24 unanswered points after the intermission. Bumphis eventually added a consolation touchdown to end the onslaught in the game's waning seconds to set the final margin.

With the win, Ole Miss put the skids on a three-game losing streak, allowing the Rebels to advance to the postseason for the first time since 2009. The Bulldogs finished the regular season 1-4 after a 7-0 start.

The Bo Wallace Hugh Freeze knows now blows 2010 Bo Wallace out of the water.

When both were together at Arkansas State, Freeze saw the obvious talent that Wallace, who was a freshman at the time, possessed, but he also saw the youth -- lots of it. Playing backup and being fresh out of high school, Wallace wasn't the biggest grownup out there.

"He was an immature knucklehead," Freeze said of Wallace Wednesday, "as a lot of us are when we come out of high school."

He also noticed the frustration of playing behind someone. That frustration led to Wallace leaving Arkansas State for what he hoped would be greener pastures at East Mississippi Community College. And he was right.

Wallace bided his time, but eventually reunited with his old coach after Freeze took the Ole Miss job last December. Freeze didn't think the two would be working together again, but when he realized the Rebels' quarterback situation needed help, Wallace was the first name that popped into his head.

Wallace joined the Rebels this spring, and was named the starter just before the season started. Through seven games, Wallace has helped guide Ole Miss to four wins (two more than last year) and has passed for 1,371 yards and nine touchdowns. He has also carried the ball 80 times for 225 yards and five more scores.

"He's matured so much since his freshman year there at Arkansas State," Freeze said. "Real pleased with the way he's preparing himself each week and the way he's leading our football team."

While Wallace, who helped Ole Miss win its first SEC game in nearly two years, has been the best option at quarterback in a while for the Rebels, he still has a lot he needs to clean up. Wallace has thrown eight interceptions and has fumbled the ball four times, with two being recovered by the defense.

Freeze blamed himself and his coaches for putting too much on Wallace's plate early, which led to more pressing on Wallace's part, but he knows that if Wallace and this team are going to up their win total, ball security has to improve.

To help, Freeze sits down with Wallace two to three times a week to make sure Wallace can go over verbatim what he thinks his progression should be, how he will handle it and what issues could be in protections on individual plays. If Wallace doesn't feel comfortable with a certain play or progression, it's scratched.

But it also comes down to Wallace making better decisions when the pressure comes. That's something Freeze can't teach.

"It has to do with us limiting the plan and him also understanding he can't be the gunslinger that he was a year ago and making sure he understands the plan," he said.

Anybody hot? Anybody not?

We take our weekly temperature in the SEC:

GLOWING EMBERS

Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel: This guy is playing in his own league right now. Johnny Football accounted for six touchdowns Saturday in Texas A&M’s wild 59-57 win over Louisiana Tech, and he broke the SEC record for total offense that he had established earlier this season. Manziel finished with 576 total yards, including 181 yards rushing. He now leads the SEC in rushing with an average of 112.7 yards per game. His numbers (14 passing touchdowns and 10 rushing touchdowns) are phenomenal, but even more so when you consider that he’s only a redshirt freshman and has played all of six college games. Manziel is on track to break the SEC record for total offense in a season. Cam Newton set the record in 2010 with 4,327 yards in 14 games. Manziel already has 2,356 yards in six games. Only three players in SEC history have surpassed 4,000 yards in a season -- Tim Couch (1998), Tim Tebow (2007) and Newton.

HOT

LSU’s pride: The Tigers haven’t lost two games in a row since the 2008 season, and they weren’t about to let South Carolina come into their den and change that. LSU not only beat the Gamecocks, but the Tigers beat up the Gamecocks physically in a 23-21 win Saturday in Tiger Stadium. The win served notice that LSU is still a player in the SEC and national championship races.

NOT

Tennessee defensive coordinator Sal Sunseri: There was genuine excitement in Big Orange Country when the Vols hired Sunseri away from Alabama, but they’re ready to ship him back after watching his defense give up 129 points and 66 first downs in three SEC games. It’s been a disaster for Tennessee on defense.

HOT

Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace: Obviously, Wallace knows how to reach the end zone. In the 41-20 win over Auburn, he rushed for a touchdown, passed for a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass, becoming the first player in Ole Miss history to pull off that feat.

NOT

South Carolina’s run defense: The Gamecocks had flexed their muscle against the run all season. Teams were averaging just 2.2 yards per carry against them, but a purple-and-gold bulldozer left nothing but feathers in its wake Saturday on the Bayou. LSU gashed South Carolina for 258 rushing yards and did it by blowing the Gamecocks off the line of scrimmage.

HOT

Alabama’s running game: The weather was nasty this past weekend in Missouri, and so was Alabama’s running game. The Crimson Tide pounded out 362 yards on the ground with Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon both topping the 100-yard mark. Lacy finished with 177 yards and three touchdowns, while Yeldon had 144 yards and two touchdowns.

NOT

Kentucky’s third-down defense: The Wildcats really haven’t stopped much of anybody this season on defense. But on third down, it’s been even more glaring. They’re 119^th out of 120 FBS teams in third-down conversion defense. Teams are converting against them 55.7 percent of the time. The only defense that’s been worse is Baylor, which is not the kind of company you want to be keeping on the defensive side of the ball.

HOT

Cowbell Central: The Mississippi State fans should be proud. They’ve rekindled a super home-field advantage at Scott Field under Dan Mullen. It’s obviously not as big as most stadiums in the SEC, but that place was rocking (and clanging) Saturday night against Tennessee in what was the Bulldogs’ 20^th straight home sellout.

NOT

Late games: What’s with some of these late start times? Yes, I know the reason. But football wasn’t meant to be played after 1 o’clock in the morning.

FREEZER BURN

Auburn: How far have the Tigers fallen just two years after winning the national championship? They travel to Vanderbilt this weekend, and the Commodores -- who are just 1-13 against Auburn since 1950 -- are a touchdown favorite. There have been happier times on the Plains, for sure. Auburn has lost six straight SEC games going back to last season and seven of its past eight. Only one of those seven losses has been closer than 17 points. The Tigers (1-5, 0-4) are ranked 12^th in the SEC in total defense, although the 41-20 loss to Ole Miss was the first time this season that they’d given up 30 or more points in a game. The bigger problem has been the offense, which is ranked last in the SEC in total offense and scoring offense. The Tigers have scored just four offensive touchdowns in four SEC games, and it appears now that they will lean toward playing more younger guys the rest of the season.

The legend of Johnny Manziel continues to grow.

No, Texas A&M's freshman quarterback was nowhere near as impressive as his 453 yards and three touchdowns in last week's drubbing of Arkansas. In fact, he contributed to three of the Aggies six turnovers in Texas A&M's 30-27 win against Ole Miss on Saturday night.

Manziel's performance against the Rebels might have been more impressive, though -- if not as statistically sound. Trailing 27-17 in the fourth quarter of the first SEC road game of his career, Manziel led Texas A&M on scoring drives of 88 and 39 yards in less than nine minutes to steal a 30-27 win from Ole Miss.

It looked for all the world that the Rebels had sealed their first SEC victory in more than two years when they recovered a muffed punt on Texas A&M's 5-yard line in the last minute of the third quarter. Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace found wide receiver Donte Moncrief for a 4-yard touchdown two plays later, and the Rebels held what looked like an insurmountable 10-point lead.

Manziel didn't do much to dispel that notion when he threw his second interception of the night on his first drive of the fourth quarter. Five minutes later the freshman came inches away from a safety when he was sacked near his own goal line. But the magic kicked in on 3rd-and-19 from the Aggies' 3-yard line, when Manziel found Mike Evans for an improbable 32-yard gain.

Two plays later, Manziel darted around four Ole Miss defenders and raced 29 yards to a touchdown to cut the score to 27-23. Faced with giving the ball back to Manziel, Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze opted to go for it on 4th-and-1 from his own 39 -- a run the Aggies promptly stuffed.

From there, Manziel needed just four plays to find receiver Ryan Swope for a 20-yard touchdown and the lead with just 1:46 to play. Wallace, who threw for a career-high 305 yards on the night, could not hold serve on Ole Miss' last-gasp drive, as he tossed his second pick of the night to the Aggies defense.

All told, Manziel threw for 191 yards and a score, and he provided 129 of the Aggies' whopping 290 rushing yards. Since dropping the season opener to Florida, the freshman has led Texas A&M to a 4-1 record and a 2-1 mark in its new conference. Not too shabby.

Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin has heard an awful lot about his offense in the past few weeks. But he's turned some of his focus to the offense he'll face this weekend in Oxford, Miss.

Ole Miss might be coming off of a 19-point loss to No. 1 Alabama, but Sumlin isn't overlooking the ability the Rebels have in their offensive arsenal, saying the defensive preparation for this week has been "pretty tedious" with all the formations, shifts and movements he expects to see from the Rebels.

Currently, Ole Miss has the SEC's No. 4 offense (434 yards per game).

While the Rebels are dealing with yet another quarterback battle on their hands, Sumlin said there's potential for a lot of firepower out of Ole Miss' running game. The Rebels own the SEC's No. 4 rushing offense (224.2) and it is ranked 21st nationally.

Bo Wallace and Barry Brunetti might be fighting for the starting spot at quarterback, but both can be very dangerous with their legs. Wallace has rushed for 165 yard this season, and Brunetti has rushed for 154.

Sumlin has also paid a lot of attention to running backs Jeff Scott and Randall Mackey, who have run for 317 and 204 yards, respectively.

"Randall Mackey and Jeff Scott back there can really fly," Sumlin said.

One thing that will help the Aggies is that Ole Miss' up-tempo, no-huddle offense is very similar to the one the Aggies run. Having to face that sort of offense every day in practice should prepare A&M for most of what they'll see from Ole Miss on Saturday.

"Fortunately, we're a no-huddle team, too," Sumlin said. "So the ability to adjust on the fly shouldn't be as difficult for us as it is for some."

Sumlin also expects his defense to continue its current run of keeping teams away from the end zone. In the past three games (all wins), the Aggies have allowed just 27 points. The Rebels might have some flash to their offense, but Sumlin is hoping his defense will help take some shine off the Rebels this weekend.

"Our defense has been pretty sound this year, and I don't expect that to change very much this week," he said.

If Ole Miss isn't careful, it's going to win enough games to be eligible for the postseason.

Seriously.

For a team that was basically left for dead after two horrible seasons that produced just six wins and the start of a 15-game conference losing streak, the Rebels have some real fight in them this year, and new coach Hugh Freeze might know what he's doing over there in the Grove.

Through five games, Ole Miss has already surpassed last year's win mark by a game (three), and it actually has an offense that fans can stomach and get excited about. More importantly, it has a team that fights and plays for its coach.

You couldn't really say that last year about the Rebels, who eventually lost Houston Nutt before the season even finished.

But things are much different. The caliber of ball played by the Freeze-led Rebs is much better. So is the discipline and the attitude. The product is bearable. And the expectations are higher.

Yes, five games in and we have to seriously consider the Rebels for a bowl game. In fact, some kind of expect it with the way they're playing and with the way their opponents are playing, as well.

While Ole Miss is fresh off a 19-point loss to No. 1 Alabama, there are a few positives the Rebels can build off from that game. After being annihilated by the Tide last year with basically the same personnel, the Rebels put it to the defending champs for a while.

Alabama stood with the 33-14 win Saturday night, but if the Rebels wanted to, they could have easily claimed a moral victory in Tuscaloosa. It was certainly there for the taking when you consider that this team stopped Alabama's gaudy lead streak that dated back to Oct. 22, 2011, scored two touchdowns on that vaunted Tide defense and held Alabama to just 305 yards of offense, including not allowing any running backs to eclipse the 83-yard mark.

Think about how far this defense has come since that nightmarish 35-point loss to Texas.

Freeze wasn't interested in moral victories Saturday night. He wanted the real one, as improbable as it might have been.

“I’m pleased with the effort and attitude of our kids and how hungry they are to succeed,” Freeze said. “I’m disappointed because I feel like we should have been in it the fourth quarter and for whatever reason -- we can go through all of them -- we didn’t get there. The next step in this journey is to get there. Get in that fourth quarter. I don’t know if we’ll win it or not but sure would feel good to play as hard as they’re playing and get in one.”

Kudos to Freeze for being genuinely disappointed. If not for three costly turnovers, terrible special-teams play and some execution issues, Ole Miss really might have made a game of it in the fourth quarter. This is certainly something the Rebels can build on and be upset about.

Last year, we saw a team that didn't play for its coach. Really, it was a group of athletes playing, not a team. The leadership stunk and players admitted to giving up far before games were over.

You don't see that this season. You see a team determined to move out of the SEC West cellar. It has better quarterback play, with Bo Wallace taking over (his turnover issues have to stop), and Donte Moncrief might be the most underrated receiver in the SEC.

It's obvious Freeze's spread is working, as the offense ranks fourth in the SEC, and while the defense has its issues, it's nowhere near as clumsy as it was last season.

When you look at the rest of Ole Miss' schedule, believe it or not, a bowl berth isn't an impossibility. Who can seriously sit here right now and say the Rebels wouldn't be favored against Auburn (home), Arkansas or Vanderbilt (home)? Win those and the Rebels are at six wins and can head to the postseason.

And don't count them out in the game against Mississippi State, which is in Oxford. When you have a team that has been disrespected by its rival for three straight years and has a coach who knows this is the game to win, things can get interesting.

Ole Miss still has a lot of work to do, and the lack of overall depth could be an issue down the stretch, but when you look at the Rebels, it's clear the SEC losing streak is coming to an end. And it isn't crazy to think that this team could be playing a 13th game.

Here's a look at what to watch in the SEC in Week 5:

1. Shouldering the pain: A handful of SEC quarterbacks enter the weekend with shoulder issues. We already know about Connor Shaw and James Franklin and their highly publicized shoulder pain, so we'll keep an eye on them. But there are a couple more QBs dealing with shoulder injuries in Ole Miss' Bo Wallace and Kentucky's Maxwell Smith. Wallace injured his shoulder last week against Tulane and missed practice Tuesday, but returned Wednesday. Smith was injured against Western Kentucky and missed last week's game against Florida. He's expected to play.

2. Lattimore's strength: We still haven't seen the Marcus Lattimore of old, but slowly he's starting to get stronger and stronger. He shed his knee brace last week and probably ran the hardest he has all season in the Gamecocks' win over Missouri. He carried the ball 21 times for 85 yards, scored two touchdowns and caught seven passes for another 60 yards. The hesitation we saw in some of his earlier runs seems to be disappearing and the more confident he is, the better he is. That has to be a scary thought for defenses, and Kentucky could be just another victim for Lattimore as he continues his comeback.

3. Tennessee's running game: If the Vols are going to win at Georgia Saturday, they have to be able to run the ball. A one-dimensional offense won't beat Georgia and its defense. The Bulldogs will be trying to make quarterback Tyler Bray's day as miserable as possible by bringing pressure as much as it can. Bray hasn't done very well against the blitz, so Tennessee has to keep Georgia's defense honest through the running game. That means running back Rajion Neal has to run like he did against Akron. He has to get the tough yards, and he has to turn short runs into longer ones in order to extend drives. Bray can't do it all on his own.

4. Missouri's offensive confidence: It's pretty obvious that Mizzou's offense has stalled. It lacks creativity and it's having trouble getting much push up front. Injuries to the offensive line have contributed to that, but this line has to get tougher in order to help create more time for quarterback James Franklin and his skill players. T.J. Moe went as far as to say Mizzou's performance against South Carolina last week was "embarrassing." If this team is going to survive its first year in the SEC, the offense has to step up. UCF's defense has been solid, so this will be a good test for the Tigers before getting back to league play.

5. Mettenberger's rebound: Everyone is piling onto LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger after his subpar play against Auburn last week. He was off for most of the game and seemed to lose his confidence after his fumble at the 1-yard line early in the game. But that was his first SEC start on the road, and Auburn's defense played its best game in a while. Towson won't provide the same challenges, and this game should help boost Mettenberger's confidence. One thing that will help is if he starts to develop more of a downfield passing game. This team has to find some explosion at wide receiver and this could be the weekend Mettenberger starts developing more chemistry with his wideouts.

6. Tennessee's second-half push: Bray made it pretty clear this week that he wasn't very happy with the way the Vols played in the second half against Florida. He said earlier this week that the team "disappeared" in the second half and that the players met to discuss how they "crawled in a shell" in the last two quarters against Florida. That certainly can't happen in Athens this weekend. Georgia is built to play for four quarters and left Missouri behind in the fourth quarter earlier this season. Tennessee has to have a strong second half to keep up with the Bulldogs this weekend.

7. Aggies running wild: Arkansas coach John L. Smith said Wednesday that the two things that aren't working for the Razorbacks' defense are stopping the run and stopping the pass. Well, that's certainly not good with Texas A&M up next. The Aggies have played back-to-back cupcakes, but with a completely new coaching staff and offensive system, they have averaged 526.5 yards and 59 points in their past two outings. Arkansas is giving up a league-worst 458 yards and 36.3 points per game. Players have really picked up Kliff Kingsbury's up-tempo offense and Smith said keeping up with that offense is a major concern for the Hogs.

8. Where will they line up? Georgia coach Mark Richt is holding back from showing his cards when it comes to Malcolm Mitchell, Bacarri Rambo and Alec Ogletree. Mitchell has played all over the field for the Bulldogs this season, but he has received more reps on offense this week. He's listed as the starting boundary corner, but we could see more of him at receiver against the Vols. Rambo and Ogletree were suspended for the first four games, but are expected back this week. Richt isn't saying what their roles will be. Like the past four weeks, we'll have to wait until game time.

9. Manziel's maturation: Talk about a lack of jitters. Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel has been extremely fun to watch during his first season as a starter. After not taking a snap last year, Manziel has been one of the most productive quarterbacks in the league. He has passed for 641 yards with seven touchdowns and has carried the ball 32 times for 262 yards and five more scores. And what might be more impressive is that he hasn't thrown any interceptions. He'll face better talent this week than he has the past two, but Arkansas' defense is hurting, and Manziel has the ability to gut it.

10. Finding Bayou playmakers: Some of the criticism that has been thrown Mettenberger's way should be directed toward LSU's receivers. We haven't seen a go-to option for Mettenberger like we saw with Rueben Randle last year. Odell Beckham Jr. was thought to be that guy, but he has caught only 11 passes for 158 yards and no touchdowns. He caught two passes against Auburn. Jarvis Landry leads LSU with 17 receptions and 160 yards, but has only one score. Kadron Boone leads the team with three receiving touchdowns. If this offense is going to progress, someone has to step up as more of a consistent receiving threat.

Nothing short of a great win for Texas tonight. Definitely felt a lot like David Ash took some big steps toward maturity in the Longhorns' first road trip of 2012.

He completed 15 consecutive passes from the first to third quarters, and showed some big improvement as the Longhorns rolled over Ole Miss, 66-31.

Time for some instant analysis:

It was over when: Texas opened the second half with a dominant drive, going 78 yards in seven plays and capping it with a powerful D.J. Monroe 10-yard touchdown run. That put the Longhorns up 38-10 and took even more energy out of an amped crowd at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Any idea of an upset ended when Texas asserted itself to open the half and prevented the Rebels from gaining any momentum.

Gameball goes to: Ash. Did we just see his career breakout game? Ole Miss' secondary looked ragged for much of the game, but Ash, a sophomore, played the best game of his career, and showed plenty of promise that he could be depended on later in the season. He finished 19-of-23 for 326 yards, four touchdowns and still has yet to throw his first interception of 2012. Did anyone think we could see this kind of performance out of Ash this early in the season?

Stat of the game: Texas won the turnover battle, 3-0. That included an interception from Steve Edmond that opened the game's scoring. He returned a Bo Wallace pass 22 yards for a touchdown.

Unsung hero of the game: Texas' offensive line. The big uglies up front gave David Ash all day to throw, and the holes were roomy and frequent for Texas' rushing attack all night long. The focus in this game will be on Ash's performance, but the offensive line deserves plenty of credit, too.

What Texas learned: The offense can look like a juggernaut from time to time. We haven't seen an offensive performance like this from Texas in a long, long time. Texas hadn't scored this many points since the Big 12 title game in 2005, and the next game ended with the Longhorns hoisting a national championship trophy. It's too soon to have any talk close to that, but Ash's development makes that power running game up front even tougher to stop. His difficult freshman season seemed pretty far in the rearview mirror tonight.

What Ole Miss learned: The defense has a long way to go. Receivers were open all day, and when Ash put the ball in the air, the Rebels defensive backs never seemed to be able to find it. The front seven were dominated, and the Longhorns made this win look easy. Could be a long season in Oxford for Hugh Freeze's first season.