Tale of the turnover

• By RANDY ROSETTA
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Nov 21, 2008 - UPDATED: 6:25 a.m.

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Turnovers are almost always a barometer between who wins and loses a game and how well or poorly a season might turn out.

Ole Miss (6-4, 3-3 Southeastern Conference) is a perfect example of the good, bad and ugly of how giveaways can impact a game and a season.

The Rebels have lost the ball 19 times this season with three or more in each of their four losses. In Ole Miss’ six triumphs, it has two turnovers or fewer — three games with none.

Ole Miss lost the ball three times each vs. Wake Forest, Alabama and South Carolina and coughed it up six times vs. Vanderbilt — once on the Commodores 1-yard-line, the last of six turnovers in a 23-17 loss.

The six-turnover nightmare gave Ole Miss eight through four games and left first-year Rebels coach Houston Nutt wondering if he had his team pointed in the right direction.

“After the Vandy game, I wasn’t sure we could get it turned around this year,” Nutt said.

“It didn’t seem like we had any chemistry with our offense. We moved the ball well, but we kept giving it away and it cost us the chance to win the game against Vanderbilt. I didn’t know if we could get to a bowl game playing that way.”

Six games later, the Rebels are bowl eligible for the first time since 2003 and tangle with LSU (7-3, 3-3) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Tiger Stadium with a chance to lock up no worse than a second-place finish in the West Division.

“We had guys who really started believing in each other and we cleaned up most of the problems we were having,” Nutt said.

Sophomore quarterback Jevan Snead has thrown 11 interceptions this season, nine in the four setbacks. In the six victories, Snead has accounted for 1,111 yards and 11 touchdowns.

LSU receiver Demetrius Byrd said Ole Miss receiver Dexter McCluster is his cousin … sort of.