Ah, the beauty of belief.

So.

Jeremiah Masoli, late of the University of Oregon, has been given new life at the University of Mississippi — thanks to Rebels coach Houston Nutt and his current roster of quarterbacks, which is a mite thin.

“I am very excited about this opportunity and very thankful Ole Miss is giving me this chance,” Masoli wrote on the home page of www.jeremiahmasoli.net. “I really want to thank Coach Nutt for believing in me.”

Ah, that’s sweet. It’s nice to be believed in, no? But then Masoli didn’t seem to care all that much about the last coach who believed in him. That would be the Ducks’ coach Chip Kelly, who now looks like a chump for keeping Masoli in the program after he a) stole laptops and a guitar from other students; b) lied about it; c) eventually pled guilty to it.

Suspended, Masoli nonetheless was given a chance to work his way back on the active roster — for which he was so grateful he was cited for marijuana possession and two other noncriminal violations following a traffic stop.

At that point, Kelly stopped believing.

Wonder how long it will take Nutt?

Dumb and incredibly dumb

So.

You’re quarterback Jeremiah Masoli.

Despite a troubled past, but you land a football scholarship to the University of Oregon. There, you succeed so well on the field that you’re talked of as a Heisman Trophy candidate.

Victories, honors and a fat NFL contract beckon.

So you get involved in the stealing of laptops from a university fraternity house and wind up suspended for the entire 2010 season?

But OK. OK. You’re a young man and young men make “mistakes.” Your coach is willing to put you back on the team in 2011 if you follow some Very Simple Rules, which include no more brushes with the law.

Victories, honors and possibly a fat NFL contract still beckon.

So you … get busted driving with marijuana in the car?

Now you’ve permanently been kicked off the team. You’ll eventually find some program to take you for your final year of eligibility — this is college football, after all.

But that fat NFL contract no longer beckons.

You’re not only dumb — you’re chump dumb.