COLUMBIA, S.C. - In this age of information you can e-mail, text, Facebook and tweet. There are near-endless opportunities through which to convey your message.

Colleges have athletic Web sites devoted to that purpose.

A scrappier, more physical approach would better serve Ole Miss tonight, however. Nothing will get out the word for No. 4-ranked Rebels better than punching South Carolina in the mouth on national television.

It is the SEC opener for the Rebels, a season in which they have their best shot at a Western Division title since the league split into divisions in 1992.

This team is No. 4 right now on the heels of how it closed 2008 with six straight wins, most of them in dominating fashion. Scores in the Rebels’ first two games don’t indicate a drop-off, but a closer look shows there are still areas to work on.

As there are with most teams this time of year.

This wasn’t the year that Ole Miss was going to be like most teams, however. This team with talent on both sides of the ball is set up to have a very different season.

People who paid attention last year suspect as much. Many national media types made the Rebels a trendy top 10 preseason pick, but it was harder for SEC locals to pull the trigger, thus a third-place standing in the league media’s preseason poll.

Blowout wins over Memphis and Southeastern Louisiana, the first one closer than the 45-14 score indicated, were a beginning to the message. They were like a 1980s fax with the edges curled up.

To bring clarity to the message the Rebels need crisp, efficient play from their top gun, Jevan Snead. The Ole Miss quarterback was average against Steve Spurrier’s Gamecocks in Oxford last year, his fumble returned for a touchdown proving to be the decisive margin in a 31-24 loss.

Snead has been mentioned as a darkhorse for the Heisman Trophy. If he’s to enter his name into that race, now’s the time, the lone college game on national television.

The speed of the game increases tonight. South Carolina will be fast and physical on defense, and while Snead works to make a statement for the Rebels he has a chance to make a statement for himself.

A lot of people are watching Ole Miss tonight and waiting for the chance to say, “I knew those guys were/weren’t for real.”

One loss won’t take the Rebels out of the Western Division race, but it could be deflating for a team that knows the expectations surrounding it.

Williams-Brice Stadium, with 80,000-plus, will be rockin’ and Gamecockin’ as South Carolina tries to deliver its own message, that Spurrier hasn’t lost the magic, as some have begun to suggest. This is his fourth year in Columbia, and the Gamecocks have done nothing spectacular.

Get the running game going behind Snead’s passing, then gang-tackle on defense, and the Rebels could show themselves a cut above and worthy of their summer of hype.

That’s the message Ole Miss would like to tweet to the Old Ball Coach.

Parrish Alford (parrish.alford@djournal.com) covers Ole Miss for the Daily Journal. He blogs about Ole Miss athletics at NEMS360.com.