THE BIG 3 Jason "Gator" Pigott

(10/14 - 10/18)

Ole Miss

As expected, Eli Manning & Co. had some fun at the expense of Arkansas St last Saturday. Ole Miss dominated from the opening kick en route to a 55-0 win. The offense was efficient in every aspect but more importantly, the defense played with an intensity that hasn't been seen in Oxford in a long time. They will need to summon that intensity once again this weekend as the Alabama Crimson Tide invade "The Grove."

Alabama must feel like a one-armed prizefighter. With their top two QB's lost to injury, the Tide is down to redshirt freshman Brandon Avalos at quarterback. Last week, Avalos started the game against USM and was 3-7 for 12 yards. On Saturday, he will once again be asked to hand the ball off to tailback Shaud Williams and get out of the way. This type of offensive game plan will put a lot of pressure on the Alabama defense and special teams to keep them in the game until the 4 th quarter.

Eli Manning and the offense will be consistent and the Rebels will be able to stop the Tide's one-dimensional offense. Barring a total collapse on special teams, the Rebels will come away with a hard fought win.

Gator's Pick: Ole Miss 27 Alabama 17

USM

Next vs. South Florida on 10/25

Mississippi State

After breaking a nine game losing streak the week before, the Bulldogs won a shootout against Memphis on Saturday in Starkville 35-27. Congratulations Bulldog faithful, "A win, is a win, is a win", right? Well, somewhat… The Dogs still have much work to do before becoming competitive in the SEC again as the Tigers out gained them 600-397 in total yards. In addition, if you take away the 100-yard KO return by Fred Reid in the 2 nd quarter, the outcome could have been different.

This Saturday, the Bulldogs will be badly outmatched by a hungry bunch of Auburn Tigers. After being picked by many "experts" at the beginning of the season to be contenders for a national title, the Tigers dropped their first two games. Since that time, they have reeled off four consecutive victories outscoring opponents by an average of 33-9. Not to mention upsetting Arkansas on the road last week 10-3.

With the "good timing" theory out the window, there is just not enough positive for the Dawgs to build on in time for this one. This one will get ugly in a hurry.

Gator's Pick: Auburn 42 MSU 16