[Bamabeachlivin]

OXFORD, Miss. -- Big Terrence Cody summed up a long day for Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead succinctly: "He wasn't seeing it coming."

Clearly, Alabama's defense did.

The No. 3-ranked Crimson Tide dominated the Rebels' offense for the better part of Saturday afternoon, harassing, pressuring and forcing four interceptions from Snead to fuel a thorough 22-3 victory at a packed Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

For Ole Miss fans who turned out in record numbers (62,657), this was a game they'd pointed at for months. What they witnessed was the likely death of SEC West title hopes for the No. 20 Rebels, one hard lick at a time by Alabama (6-0, 3-0 SEC).

"I thought we were ready and excited," Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt said. "I thought we had two good weeks of practice. We ran into a really good football team, and you just can't turn the ball over."

The Rebels (3-2, 1-2) ended the first half with 19 yards and one first down.

They ended the game with five turnovers, a 0-for-9 clip on third down and less than 22 minutes of possession time. All were traces of what Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban called the finest defensive performance "I've been around in a while."

"We kind of expect that," Alabama cornerback Javier Arenas said. "No disrespect to them, but we practice it. It's our mindset. We're in the moment and thinking that's what we're supposed to do."

Nutt was suitably impressed.

"This is the fastest defense if you went from 1 to 11," Nutt said. "From corners to safeties to linebackers, this is the best I've seen."
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