ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

We’ve seen Ole Miss’ Dexter McCluster in doses this season, but the full dosage may come this weekend.

For that matter, it may have to come.

	Joe Murphy/Getty Images
	Ole Miss’ Dexter McCluster doesn’t mind taking an increased role in the offense.

Taking the ball and driving it against Alabama’s defense for 12 and 14 plays just doesn’t happen very often, which is where McCluster and his ability to get yards in chunks and strike from long distance come into play.

He’s the Rebels’ second leading rusher and the second leading receiver through four games, but he’s also received a ton of attention from defenses and hasn’t been able to get loose in the open field as much as he’d like.

And let’s face it. The open field is McCluster’s sanctuary.

“Driving that ball against these guys can get pretty hard, so we need that big strike in there,” McCluster said. “I want to be that person, if we need something to happen. But I’m not going to try and force it, either. I’m going to let it come to me when it comes.”

The Rebels have moved McCluster around from slot receiver, to outside receiver, even to tailback.

They put him back at tailback in the fourth quarter of the South Carolina game, and the Rebels finally started moving the ball. And while a 169-pound tailback is a rarity in the SEC, McCluster is game for whatever the coaches have in store this weekend.

“If I’m getting doubled at wide receiver, I think you’ll see them throw me back there,” said McCluster, who’s carried it 31 times for 148 yards, but doesn’t have a run longer than 18 yards in the first four games.

“I’m not a one-dimensional player. I can play at wide receiver, running back, pretty much wherever the coaches need me. Just give me a chance to get the ball in my hands.”

So far this season, McCluster said he hasn’t lined up but a handful of times in the “Wild Rebel” formation at quarterback.

“I draw a lot of attention back there,” he said. “I know they don’t want to run me in the ground, but I tell them, ‘Run me until my tongue falls off. I’ll be all right.'"

He’s also lobbying to get a chance in the return game this weekend.

“I go to them every day and tell them I’m ready. I practice it every day,” McCluster said. “I know that time will come. I’ve just got to be ready for it.”

McCluster was coy when asked if the Rebels were planning anything new for the Crimson Tide. Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt completely closed practice this week.

“We let coach Nutt and coach (Kent) Austin talk about those things,” said McCluster, who has 11 catches for 155 yards and a touchdown this season. “But I know we’re going to throw some wrinkles in there and have something ready for that defense that they’re not expecting.”

Don’t be surprised if McCluster is somehow involved.

“Wherever he is, he’s a threat,” Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead said. “Everybody knows it, but you’ve still got to stop him. He’s just one of those electric players that when the ball touches his hands, there’s no telling what he’s going to do.”

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.”

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

One thing Alabama coach Nick Saban has always done is find a way to get his best talent on the field.

That said, don’t be surprised if the Crimson Tide’s linebacker combination takes on a little different look this Saturday against Ole Miss. Saban suggested earlier this week that some of the younger players may get a chance to play more.

And at linebacker, that would be true freshmen Nico Johnson and Tana Patrick. Both are candidates to play inside at the “Will” linebacker spot, which was manned by Dont’a Hightower before he suffered a season-ending knee injury.

The Crimson Tide clearly missed Hightower last week in the 38-20 win over Kentucky. The Wildcats rushed for 133 yards, the first time anybody had rushed for more than 64 yards against the Tide this season.

Senior Cory Reamer was back at outside linebacker for the first part of practice earlier this week after starting at Hightower’s “Will” spot against the Wildcats, paving the way for either Johnson or Patrick to possibly play an expanded role against the Rebels.

"I do think we need to get more players involved on defense," Saban said. "I think we need to coach more players. We've got to get some young players ready to play, because they may get the opportunity to play. We're going to see a different type of team. This team is a two-back running team that does a lot of different things relative to formations and personnel utilization.

"We're going to have to play very physical and probably need to get our most physical players out there to play. I'm not sure what the best way to do that is right now. It's something that we'll evaluate this week."

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt is playing a little guessing game heading into the Rebels’ biggest game of the season.

He’s closed down all of practice this week to the media. The first four periods of practice are usually open to the media through the week. It’s the first time he’s done this since coming to Ole Miss, reports David Brandt of The Jackson Clarion-Ledger.

Players and coaches are still available for interviews after practice, but it does make you wonder.

I’ve always been part of the crowd that thinks whether a team’s practice is open or closed is vastly overrated.

There just aren’t a lot of secrets anymore, and how many of us in the media (and that includes me) can sit there and watch a practice from all the way across the field and discern if a team is putting in a different blitz or changing up its pass protections.

If you’re trying to hide an injury, that’s one thing. The same goes for switching around personnel on special teams or trying a few new wrinkles on offense.

I guess we’ll find out Saturday if Nutt has a few surprises in store for the Crimson Tide.