More photos » April L. Brown - AP

Browse more photos »

We have been wandering, lost, parched and starving.  Trudging through a desert devoid of hope.

Now the Hogs have gone and won three in a row, all of them improbable, two of them extremely improbable since they were come-from-behind road wins.  And here sit the Hogs with upcoming home games against dismal Auburn and the unspeakably awful LSU.  Ponder, for just a second, that if the Hogs win those two they sit at 6-3 and likely alone in first in the SEC West.

"6-3 and alone in first in the SEC West."  Did I really just write that?  (Twice?)  I did, and I am kicking myself for possibly jinxing this group.  Thinking ahead is a sure-fire way for this bunch to do a header into a Porta-John at Riverfest. 

On the other hand, the SEC West is so terrible this year, we might just have a shot.  The win at Ole Miss was gritty, but the win Wednesday at Georgia was nothing short of ugly.  Georgia stunk.  They stunk bad.  We tried to hand them the game and the Bulldogs dropped it on the floor.  That one was so lucky, we might be due for bad karma.

So, this game today?  Make or break.  Nothing less than that.  This team is showing it has four weapons in Clarke, Fortson, Washington and Powell.  But we really need three of them working to win.   The team needs to find a way to score when two or more of those weapons are mis-firing. 

But for now, I see palm trees and a patch of green in the haze of the desert sand.  I am daring to hope.