Ole Miss vs. South Carolina is a Must Win for the Rebels

If Ole Miss wants to have any chance of winning the national championship, they need to beat South Carolina on Thursday night. The Rebs are currently 4th in the nation and could theoretically lose to the Gamecocks but end up in the SEC Championship Game and beat Florida on their way to the title game. I would usually tend to agree with that, but this is a nationally televised game. Remember last year when USC lost at Oregon State on a Thursday night in September on national television? They basically lost all hope of reaching the championship game after that. And that is USC, who is recognized as a perennial national championship contender. This is Ole Miss. Their current ranking at 4th is their highest in something along the lines of 30 years. This will be no simple task as South Carolina boasts a raucous crowd(which means drunk in SEC country), a stingy defense, and an offense that suddenly seems potent after putting up 37 between the hedges led by QB Stephen Garcia. However, Houston Nutt is one of the best big game coaches in the entire country, not just the SEC. I think South Carolina keeps it close in the first half and maybe even has a lead entering the second half but I think Jevan Snead will have a huge game and Houston Nutt will open up his seemingly endless bag of tricks. After Ole Miss gets up, the pressure applied by DE Greg Hardy will make it difficult for the Gamecocks to come back so I think the Rebels win this one 34-21 in a game that will be closer than the score will indicate.