NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Mississippi Rebels will need better than this from Jevan Snead against No. 3 Alabama.

Snead passed for three touchdowns to overcome his three interceptions as No. 21 Mississippi bounced back tonight with a 23-7 victory over Vanderbilt.

Snead threw for just one touchdown in last week's 16-10 loss to South Carolina, a game that dropped the Rebels (3-1, 1-1 SEC) from a No. 4 ranking that had been their highest since 1970. He matched his season high with three TDs against Vanderbilt.

The Commodores (2-3, 0-2) picked off four Snead passes a year ago in Oxford, Miss. They nearly matched that with Jamie Graham, Casey Heyward and Myron Lewis each intercepting a pass.

But Ole Miss' Marcus Temple intercepted Larry Smith in the end zone with 10:55 left to help preserve a 23-7 lead.

The Rebels host the Crimson Tide next Saturday in a crucial SEC showdown.

Mississippi outgained Vanderbilt 397-240 and held the ball for nearly 36 minutes. The Commodores disintegrated twice inside the Ole Miss 20 in the first half. They missed two field goal attempts and finished with an uncharacteristic 12 penalties for 74 yards.

Snead came in having completed 49.3 percent of his passes and ranked 65th nationally in passing efficiency. He looked much more like the quarterback who led the Rebels to a Cotton Bowl win as he guided them to three scoring drives in the first half, and he did it against a Vanderbilt defense that came in ranked third nationally in passing efficiency defense.

He had two TD passes in the second quarter. His best throw of the night, a 48-yarder down the right sideline to Shay Hodge on third-and-16, set up his 12-yard TD pass to Brandon Bolden for a 17-0 halftime lead.

He made it 23-0 by capping the Rebels' opening drive of the third quarter with a 7-yard TD to Hodge, his second of the game. Snead finished 19 of 34 for 237 yards.

Vanderbilt came in with a defense ranked 19th nationally, giving up 266 yards, and nearly played its way back into the game with two interceptions after Ole Miss went up 23-0. Heyward's interception midway through the third set up Vandy's lone touchdown, a 7-yard pass from Smith to Udom Umoh for the receiver's first career TD catch.

When Smith had a chance to cut into the Ole Miss lead again after a 48-yard run by Warren Norman to the Rebels 6, Temple tipped and intercepted a pass to end the threat early in the fourth.