Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead is no Tim Tebow when it comes to star power in the SEC. But there’s no doubt Snead is grabbing loads of attention as he prepares for his junior season. In fact, he’s even mentioned as a Heisman Trophy darkhorse.

Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt was asked about this today, especially since he’s seen it before. Nutt, of course, coached Darren McFadden at Arkansas and saw this type of hype before. So what is his advice for Snead?

“When you play the way you play, at the end of the year (in 2008), there’s going to be attention,” Nutt said. “It’s how you handle the attention. I want Jevan to keep being Jevan. He’s always been a very unselfish guy.

“I think the biggest thing, learning what we went through with Darren McFadden, there’s going to be attention, there’s going to be a lot more media, a lot more TV interviewers. There’s going to be more demands on your time. … You have to stay focused and keep priorities priorities. What that means is managing that time. It’s school, it’s football, and then handle all the extracurricular activities that’s gonna happen with all this attention.”

As far as Snead goes, the quarterback said not much has changed in his mind even though the notoriety is much, much greater after the Rebels’ success last season. The junior said he’s just taking everything in stride.

“I think as a team, we’re handling it well. We’re not changing much from what we did last  year. It was hard work that got us success and that’s what we’re continuing to do.”

Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt wrapped up his time at the podium a little while ago. Most of what he said about the Rebels’ soaring expectations this year will be used for a story I’m writing for tomorrow’s paper. But there are a couple of nuggets worth mentioning on the blog now.

For instance, there was a reporter who asked Nutt for his thoughts on the SEC’s new rule capping signing classes at 28. If you weren’t aware, Nutt’s 2009 signing class was one big reason for the rule chance. He signed a whopping 37 players.

“Twenty-eight,” Nutt joked. “Was that because of my number?”

Nutt went on to explain his reasoning for signing so many guys. He said the Rebels knew eight or nine wouldn’t make it academically, but signed them anyway in hopes of placing them in Missisippi JUCOs. It would help them feel like they were still part of Ole Miss’ family and would sign with the Rebels later. He also wanted to aid relationships with JUCO coaches in the state and thought getting some of his signees to their schools might help in that regard, too.

So does he like the new rule? Well, it sounds like he does to a certain point.

“I wish it was at 30,” Nutt said. “But a rule is a rule. Our numbers are going to work out. They’ll be at 25 by the time we start.”

What do Bobby Petrino and Houston Nutt have in common?

Oh, right, they both coach or coached at Arkansas.

Could this guy replace this guy?

But there’s one more thing in common after looking at The Birmingham News this morning. Both have had their names involved in Auburn’s search for Tommy Tuberville’s replacement. Check out the story The Birmingham News wrote this morning that says the school is looking at Nutt as a potential replacement.

May not be so surprising considering Nutt and Tuberville have the same agent. But interesting nonetheless to consider the possibility of Nutt moving on to another SEC West school after one year at Ole Miss. Especially since the last time Auburn was searching for a football coach, it grabbed Tuberville from Ole Miss. You think that would make Ole Miss even more mad?

We’re just playing “what ifs” here, but if the Tigers hired Nutt that would be Arkansas, Ole Miss and Auburn within a 13-month span for the coach.

Wow. That would be interesting.

In this edition of HogTalk, Morning News sportswriters Vernon Tarver, Ryan Malashock, Robbie Neiswanger, and Sports Editor Chip Souza discuss Houston Nutt’s return to Fayetteville and the Razorbacks’ loss to Ole Miss.

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Ole Miss has scored 10 points in the final three minutes of the first half to grab a 13-7 lead at the break.

The Rebels just tacked on three more the easy way. Quarterback Casey Dick threw a short pass to running back Michael Smith, but the ball bounced off his hands and into the arms of an Ole Miss defender. The Rebels nearly scored a touchdown on the pick, but Dick made a saving tackle at the Arkansas 17.

Ole Miss place kicker Josh Shene made his second field goal of the night. The Rebels ran off the field.

The field goal was preceded by a 68-yard touchdown drive that gave Ole Miss the lead. Quarterback Jevan Snead threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to receiver Shay Hodge to help the Rebels grab a 10-7 lead. Ole Miss hurt the Hogs with a couple of big plays on the scoring drive.

This is definitely not what Arkansas fans wanted to see at halftime: Houston Nutt’s team with the lead.

In case you were wondering, Houston Nutt has returned to Fayetteville.

It took a little while, but the former Arkansas coach emerged from the visitor’s tunnel for Ole Miss’ pregame warmups a little while ago. He was promptly booed and jeered by fans. A little later, Nutt left the field with his team and was booed once again. That should be no surprise.

Same for the amount of black we’ve seen in the stadium so far. Apparently, Arkansas fans are still protesting Nutt as he returns. There’s still plenty of red in the stadium, but this now looks an awful like a Georgia crowd than an Arkansas one. So I guess we should say … “Go Dawgs!”

Nutt did stop to say hi to former receiver Anthony Lucas. At least, it looked like Anthony Lucas from up here in the press box. So did other assistants like Danny Nutt and James Shibest.

It’s getting close to kickoff. We’ll fill you in on more sights and sounds as we go along here.

Well, it’s 45 minutes before kickoff and Houston Nutt is still a no-show. His players are on the field, and his assistant coaches — including former Arkansas offensive line coach Mike Markuson and defensive line coach Tracy Rocker — are out there as well. But still no Nutt.

Oh, wait… here comes Nutt. And the boos. He’s gathering around with his players.

Arkansas running back Michael Smith is dressed out and taking part in warmups. That’s at least encouraging for the Razorbacks. Smith hasn’t been seen since he suffered a concussion late in last Saturday’s loss at Kentucky. He’s expected to start today, even though he has been limited in practice.

Hopefully you’ve been reading everything we’ve written about Houston Nutt’s return to Arkansas.

The latest came from Alex Abrams, who wrote about Nutt’s return in today’s paper.

We’re not the only ones covering this story all week. So with most of our work week wrapped up, I thought I’d offer a few other takes on the Nutt vs. Arkansas saga that is going to play out tomorrow night:

• First, one of my friends and former co-worker, David Brandt of the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, has spent the past couple days in Fayetteville and was down on Dickson Street yesterday talking to fans. Here is what he found out in this interesting piece.

• Another friend, Scott Cacciola from the Memphis Commerical Appeal, was in town Monday and Tuesday and took in the scene from campus and Dickson Street. He also followed our advice and went by Neal’s Cafe in Springdale. Here is the story he was able to produce.

• There’s also a very, very interesting column bound to stir up Arkansas fans. Gregg Doyel of CBSSportsline.com wrote that he hopes Nutt will get some payback on his trip home this weekend. Doyel’s job is to stir conversation and, like him or not, you’ve got to say he’s done his job well here.

We’re obviously going to spend much of the week detailing Houston Nutt’s return to Fayetteville.

You’ll read what Nutt is thinking as he comes back. You’ll see how Arkansas’ current players feel about his return. You’ll even see what some of his former players think. Plus much, much more.

Photo Credit: Memphis Commercial-Appeal

But we here on the blog also want to know what you think.

What are your thoughts on this game this week? How do you feel about Nutt’s return? What are your plans for the big day? What would be the perfect game for you Saturday? Do you think Arkansas is going to win? Or do you have a feeling Nutt’s bunch is going to pull off a win?

Share your thoughts. But remember: Don’t get out of control. I don’t want to have to pull down comments.