Ole Miss fans can still book their tickets for Atlanta and the Georgia Dome after Saturday’s 22-3 loss to Alabama.

Shame is, it won’t be for a Dec. 5 date, but on Dec. 31 for the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

This wasn’t the way this season was supposed to turn out for the Rebels (3-2, 1-2 SEC), who are all but eliminated from the SEC West race with two conference losses. Alabama, LSU and Auburn would have to lose out and, judging by the way the Tide played Saturday, there is little chance of that happening.

Steve Wilson is the sports editor of The Vicksburg Post. You can reach him at (601) 636-4545, extension 142 or at swilson@vicksburgpost.com.

Quarterback Jevan Snead has become the Enron of Heisman Trophy candidates. After gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated, his stock has plummeted like the Apollo command module on re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.

The offense is a complete mess. Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt ripped his offensive line’s play on Sunday, a day after generating 72 yards rushing on 23 carries.

“Offensively, the disappointing thing is that we got whipped up front a little bit,” Nutt said. “We have to improve on our offensive line and become much more physical.”

The pressure on Snead has gotten intense and he drew lusty boos from the home crowd as one pass after another sailed so high that not even giant former NBA center Manute Bol could have snagged them. Snead’s gone from Heisman candidate to candidate for the bench. While his receivers dropped a lot of his better-thrown passes and his line did little to protect him, he was so rattled that even when he had time, he tended to unload and fire wildly without going through his progression.

The bellwether moment for the Rebel hopes came in the SEC opener when Nutt elected to go for a fake field goal rather than take the easy points against South Carolina. The fake failed after the upback was caught with a shoestring tackle and it gave the struggling Gamecocks the momentum boost they needed to earn a 16-10 victory.

Since then, it’s only been more of the same.

The only area where the Rebels have met or exceeded expectations is on defense. They held Alabama in check for most of the day, forcing ‘Bama kicker Leigh Tiffin to trot out for five trips. They forced the sixth-most efficient quarterback in the NCAA, Greg McElroy, into a sputtering day and sacked him twice.

The schedule doesn’t get any easier from here. Arkansas and Auburn are much-improved and will test the Rebels’ solid defense. Tennessee, with Ed Orgeron making his first return trip to Oxford, and LSU will be at home, but neither promises to be an easy mark.

The season-capping Egg Bowl against Mississippi State will be on the road. Unlike last season, the Bulldogs are spoiling for a fight and will have their cowbells at the ready.

But thanks to a non-conference schedule softer than a roll of Charmin, the Rebels are assured at least seven wins and a trip to probably the Liberty or even the Chick-fil-A Bowl, if they can just win two of their final five SEC games.

That’s not bad considering what the expectations were during the Orgeron era, or should it be error? But that isn’t the way things were intended to turn out in a season filled with so many expectations.

The trick is pulling a salvage job. That’s not what Rebel fans want to hear, but if Ole Miss is to get something out of the season, time is running out for them to turn it around.