Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

As everybody pointed to the Alabama-Ole Miss showdown back in the spring as perhaps the telltale game in the Western Division race this season, the Rebels had one clear advantage that everybody would have conceded.

And, yes, even those Alabama fans with the deepest shade of crimson blood running through their veins would have agreed.

The quarterback edge belonged lock, stock and barrel to Ole Miss.

After all, Jevan Snead was being mentioned by many in the Heisman Trophy race after throwing 16 touchdown passes and three interceptions during the Rebels’ six-game winning streak to end last season. His ability to move around and make plays down the field was a big part of Ole Miss’ success a year ago, and the chatter among NFL scouts and analysts was that he would be a first-round lock if he declared for the draft following this season.

	AP Photo/Dave Martin
	So far this season, Greg McElroy has been one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the nation.

Meanwhile, the quarterback situation at Alabama wasn’t even settled until the end of spring practice, and even then, Alabama coach Nick Saban didn’t officially name Greg McElroy the starter.

Entering his fourth year in the program, McElroy was a huge unknown. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound junior had played only in mop-up situations previously, and even though he set a Texas state record with 56 touchdowns passes as a senior in high school, nobody knew what he was capable of at the SEC level.

It’s safe to say they do now.

Through five games, McElroy has been one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the country. He’s passed for 1,086 yards with nine touchdown passes and just one interception. He’s completed 65.5 percent of his passes, which leads all SEC quarterbacks who’ve attempted more than 70 passes this season.

He’s spreading the ball around, using his tight end and running backs, and has thrown touchdown passes to six different players. He’s also completed passes of 30 yards or longer to five different players.

If any quarterback in the SEC has looked like a Heisman Trophy candidate through five games, it’s McElroy.

And if it’s not him, it’s his counterpart down south in the state of Alabama -- Auburn’s Chris Todd.

“I’m just taking what they’re giving me,” McElroy said. “The mindset, the thing I’ve always been taught, is to take what the defense gives you, and eventually they’ll give you the game.”

For Snead, he’s yet to really find his game, although he looked much closer to the version of Snead we saw last season in the first half of the Rebels’ 23-7 win over Vanderbilt last week. But then he came back and threw two interceptions in the second half.

Through four games, the Rebels’ junior quarterback has passed for 728 yards, nine touchdowns and five interceptions. He’s completing just 51.4 percent of his passes and looked jittery in the pocket in Ole Miss’ 16-10 loss to South Carolina. He was sacked early in that game by Eric Norwood and never looked completely comfortable the rest of the way.

	Stew Milne/US Presswire
	Jevan Snead has yet to find his rhythm for a complete game this season.

In a lot of ways, Snead is still getting used to playing without his left tackle, Michael Oher, and without his top deep threat from last year, Mike Wallace, but said everybody’s confidence in each other is exactly where it needs to be going into the Alabama game.

“I can just tell you that I’m going to do everything I can to correct the issues I’m having with the turnovers and incompletions I’m having,” Snead said. “I have no doubt that it’s going to come. My receivers are doing a great job for me. The offensive line is really coming on.

“As an offense, I think we’re poised to break out.”

Following that loss to South Carolina, in which Snead was sacked four times and finished 7-of-21 for 107 yards, he admitted he was searching for answers.

“I’ll be truthful,” he said. “After that South Carolina game, I kind of got down on myself. I know I can play better and knew it was on me to get better in practice every single day. As you get away from that game, you take what you can from the film and leave it behind you. You can’t look back. It’s just going to slow you down going forward.

“I got over that and have been looking up since then. I’m really looking forward to this week.”

Anybody who’s seen Snead play or practice knows that last season wasn’t a mirage. He has all the skills to give a defense fits.

But for whatever reason, Snead just hasn’t seemed to settle into a comfort zone for an entire game this season. He doesn’t agree that he’s been uncomfortable in the pocket and says his offensive line has improved every week.

Rather, he said it’s a matter of the Rebels playing to their potential and not beating themselves.

“We know we can move the ball,” Snead said. “We know we can play well. We know we can play with anybody in the country. It’s a matter of how we execute and whether we stop ourselves or not. The past few games, we really did a lot of things to hurt ourselves, and my turnovers are included in that.

“If we can play our game and be fundamentally sound, I think we have a great chance this Saturday.”