THE BIG 3 WEEKLY By Jason "Gator" Pigott

(10/07 - 10/11)

Ole Miss

The Rebels are riding high after their 20-17 upset of the Florida Gators in "The Swamp" last week. On paper, an upset looked possible only if senior quarterback Eli Manning passed for about 6 TD's in order to compensate for one of the nation's worst pass defenses. However, that's not how it went. The Ole Miss defense played its best game of the season by intercepting three Chris Leak passes and Manning did not have a touchdown pass in the game. Go figure?

This week, the Rebels return home to Oxford and are heavy favorites to an Arkansas St. team that allowed 41 points to La. Monroe last week. Arkansas St. has some playmakers on offense but the defense is horrible. If the Rebs can avoid looking ahead to hosting Alabama next week, they should be able to call their shot on Saturday.

Gator's Pick: Ole Miss 45 Arkansas St. 28

USM

After being steam-rolled by Nebraska at home in front of national audience the week before, the Golden Eagles could have just packed up and called it a season. Instead, they rebounded with a gutsy second half performance at Cincinnati and pulled out a 22-20 come from behind victory. The story line was the same as it has been all year. The defense was solid, and the offense was not effective in the red zone. True freshman kicker Darren McCaleb (D'Iberville) was the hero connecting on three short field goals including a 26-yard game winner with 1:10 remaining in the 4 th quarter.

This week, the Golden Eagles will travel to Tuscaloosa, AL to take on Crimson Tide of Alabama. The Tide has lost three straight, but all were to ranked opponents. In the past, Tuscaloosa has not been Eagle-friendly and it won't be again this week if the offense can't score in the red zone. It should be a low scoring game with special-teams play being the difference. As much as it hurts me to put this in print, Bama will be too much for Bower's boys on Saturday.

Gator's Pick : Alabama 23 USM 13

Mississippi State

The Bulldogs got their first win of the 2003 campaign last week with a 30-21 victory over Vanderbilt. The defense came up with a big turnover late in the game to avoid another late minute collapse giving the home crowd in Starkville something to cheer about. With the Memphis Tigers coming to town this Saturday, winning two in a row is not out of the question and here's why.

Memphis looked bad last week in losing at home to UAB 24-10. The defense committed several penalties and gave up too many big plays to a weak UAB offense. Put that with the fact that over the last three seasons, AFTER playing UAB, the Tigers are a combined 2-12 overall.

Have the Bulldogs gotten over the hump, or is it just good timing? Call it what you will, but look for State to win a high scoring game.

Gator's Pick: MSU 31 Memphis 28