Ole Miss led No. 9 Arkansas 17-0 midway through the 2nd quarter Saturday in Mississippi before reality set in and the Hogs rallied for a 29-24 victory. Afterward, Rebels’ coach Houston Nutt, whose job security could best be described as tenuous right now, took a couple jabs at local columnist Neal McCready, who predicted Ole Miss would get drilled, 49-10.

“They played real hard,” Nutt said. “They played harder than that 49-10, right, Neal? One on my players told me. I don’t read your stuff; they tell me what you say. One of my freshmen told me that Neal McCready wrote that we were going to get beat 49-10. It wasn’t no 49-10.”

This was a solid attempt by Nutt at deflecting attention from another SEC loss, and redirecting it at a media member. Hey, anything to keep the angry mob with pitchforks at bay, right? Ole Miss is 2-5 and winless in the SEC (they’ve lost 10 straight in conference play). The Rebels won’t be going to a bowl game unless they finish by winning four of their last five, which would mean beating Auburn this weekend. It seems unlikely.

Will Nutt be canned? He took Ed Orgeron’s players to two straight Cotton Bowls, but this year will likely make two in a row without a postseason trip. His year will be a disappointment, especially considering they brought back eight starters on offense. He’s viewed as a dirty coach, and the best move might be to get rid of him sooner rather than later. I’d speculate about names to replace Nutt, but first, somebody needs to tell me if booster can come up with his $6 million buyout. Jimmy Sexton is a dirty, rotten genius.

[Vid via Ole Miss Rivals]