'09 Rewind: Counting down the season's best turning points

The best and worst of the year. 5. Ole Miss acquires the McCluster Bomb. By mid-October, Ole Miss' dream season was already fading fast after grim losses to South Carolina and Alabama, against whom the Rebels combined to score a single offensive touchdown. Through the first six games, senior receiver/running back/Wildcat Dexter McCluster was averaging 60 total yards on nine touches per game. In need of a spark, Ole Miss made McCluster the full-time tailback against Arkansas on Oct. 24, and got out of the way: D-Mac torched the Razorbacks for 260 yards in a 30-17 Rebel win and went on to average 221 yards on 29 touches per game down the stretch. His 324-yard, four-touchdown explosion in a 42-17 win over Tennessee stands as one of the great individual performances of the season. The Rebels won six of their last eight and took their second straight Cotton Bowl (where McCluster had 229 yards and both of the team's offensive touchdowns against Oklahoma State) to secure back-to-b...