Around the SEC: Week 5
While the Missouri Tigers were beating up on UMass, the rest of the SEC had quite a day Saturday. For those of you who weren’t interested in watching seven other games Saturday, here is a recap.
All rankings will be the AP rankings from when the games were played, instead of after Sunday’s update.
No. 17 Alabama 24, No. 7 Georgia 21
Down goes Georgia, and Mizzou now holds the second-longest home winning streak in the country, trailing only Oregon.
The Bulldogs had won 33 consecutive home games before Bama came to town.
Alabama jumped ahead early when Ty Simpson hit Germie Bernard for a 6-yard touchdown in the first quarter, then added a 6-yard touchdown to Isaiah Horton early in the second. With the Tide up 14-0, Gunner Stockton got Georgia on the board with a 38-yard strike to Colbie Young with 12:48 left in the second.
Alabama added a field goal, then Chauncey Bowens ran in a 2-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 17-14 for Georgia with 2:08 left in the first half.
But Simpson led a 75-yard drive in the two-minute drill and ran in a 2-yard touchdown to take a 24-14 lead into halftime.
The only score the rest of the way was a Josh McCray 1-yard touchdown run for Georgia to create the final margin.
The Tide and Bulldogs traded four punts and each team was stopped on downs once in the final six drives.
Alabama led 397-357 in total yards and 280-130 in passing yards. Georgia led 227-117 in rushing yards. The bulldogs racked up that total on 33 carries for an average of 6.9 yards per attempt.
Simpson completed 24-of-38 passes for 276 yards and two touchdowns, while the Tide had Bernard throw one pass for four yards.
Stockton went 13-of-20 passing for 130 yards and a score.
Jamarion Miller led Alabama with 46 rushing yards, while Bowens led Georgia with 119.
Horton led the game with 65 receiving yards for Alabama, while Ryan Williams added 43 yards on five catches. Young led Georgia with 59 yards.
No. 17 Alabama (3-1, 1-0 SEC) will host No. 18 Vanderbilt (5-0, 1-0) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
No. 7 Georgia (3-1, 1-1) will host Kentucky (2-2 0-2) at 11 a.m. Saturday.
No. 13 Ole Miss 24, No. 4 LSU 19
Another top-10 upset as the Bayou Bengals are dropped for the first time.
LSU took the initial lead when Garrett Nussmeier hit Nic Anderson for a 7-yard touchdown midway through the first quarter, but Ole Miss hit a field goal with 1:40 left to cut the lead going to the second.
Former Mizzou Tiger Kewan Lacy ran in a 15-yard score to give the Rebels the lead with 5:09 left in the second, then Trinidad Chambliss connected with Cayden Lee on a 2-yard touchdown with 13 seconds left to take a 17-7 lead into halftime.
LSU hit two third-quarter field goals, but Ole Miss got a 6-yard rushing touchdown from Logan Diggs to create a two-score advantage with 11:08 left in the fourth. LSU added a Harlem Berry 6-yard touchdown run with 5:04 left to play.
Ole Miss ran out the final 5:04.
The Rebels led in total yards, 480-254, passing yards, 314-197, and rushing yards, 166-57.
Chambliss was 23-of-39 passing for 314 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Nussmeier went 21-of-34 for 197 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Lacy led the Rebels with an 87 rushing yards, while Chambliss added 71. Berry led LSU in rushing with just 22 yards.
Lee led Ole Miss with 70 receiving yards, while Dae’Quan Wright had 66 on four catches. Zavion Thomas led LSU with three catches for 63 yards.
No. 13 Ole Miss (5-0, 3-0) and No. 4 LSU (4-1, 1-1) will both be on a bye next week.
No. 9 Texas A&M 16, Auburn 10
The Aggies held off the Tigers to avoid being the third top-10 upset of the weekend.
Texas A&M got on the board first with a 1-yard Le’Veon Moss touchdown in the first quarter, then the Aggies added two second-quarter field goals, while Auburn hit one to send the game into halftime with A&M leading 13-3.
Auburn cut the lead with a 2-yard Jackson Arnold rushing touchdown with 10:20 left to play, but A&M was able to hold off the comeback.
Texas A&M held a 414-177 lead in total yards, a 207-125 lead in passing yards and a 207-52 lead in rushing yards.
Auburn went 0-of-13 on third downs, while A&M went just 3-of-14.
Marcel Reed went 15-of-22 passing for 207 yards and an interception for Texas A&M. Arnold was 18-of-33 for 125 yards for Auburn.
Moss garnered 139 rushing yards on 21 carries, while Jeremiah Cobb led Auburn with just 28 rushing yards.
KC Concepcion was the Aggies’ leading receiver at seven catches for 113 yards. Eric Singleton led Auburn with five catches for 56 yards.
No. 9 Texas A&M (4-0, 1-0) will host Mississippi State (4-1, 0-1) at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
Auburn (3-2, 0-2) will have a bye next week.
No. 15 Tennessee 41, Mississippi state 34
Tennessee escaped in overtime, avoiding losing consecutive games.
Joey Aguilar ran in a 6-yard touchdown to tie the game with 1:55 left for the Volunteers, then DeSean Bishop ran in a 25-yard touchdown in overtime to win the game for Tennessee.
Mississippi State took the initial lead when Fluff Bothwell ran in a 5-yard touchdown in the first quarter, but a field goal and a Colton Hood 23-yard pick-6 on a Blake Shapen pass put Tennessee up 10-7 going to the second.
Davon Booth retook the lead for the Bulldogs with a 5-yard touchdown, then a 51-yard field goal put Mississippi State up 17-10. With 7:25 left before halftime, Aguilar hit Chris Brazzell on a 15-yard touchdown to send the game to halftime tied at 17.
A 27-yard field goal put Tennessee up 20-17 early in the third, but Bothwell ran in a 1-yard score to retake the lead for the Bulldogs at 24-20 going to the fourth.
Tyre West strip sacked Shapen early in the fourth and Joshua Josephs returned the fumble 41 yards for a touchdown to create a 27-24 lead for Mississippi State, but a 38-yard field goal tied the game at 27 with 10:31 left in the fourth.
Shapen put the Bulldogs in front with 7:59 left in regulation when he hit Seydou Traore on a 2-yard touchdown.
Tennessee led 466-378 in total yards and 335-180 in passing yards. Mississippi State led 198-131 in rushing yards.
Aguilar went 24-of-40 passing for 335 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Shapen was 18-of-29 for 180 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Bishop led Tennessee with 72 rushing yards, while Bothwell had 134 and two touchdowns for the Bulldogs.
Mike Matthews led Tennessee with 118 receiving yards, while Brazzell added 105. No Mississippi State receiver had 50 yards.
Mississippi State (4-1, 0-1) will play at No. 9 Texas A&M (4-0, 1-0) at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
No. 15 Tennessee (4-1, 1-1) will be on a bye next week.
South Carolina 35, Kentucky 13
The Gamecocks rebounded from their loss to Mizzou with a big win hosting Kentucky.
The Wildcats took the initial lead when Seth McGowan ran in a 20-yard touchdown with 11:27 left in the first quarter.
But South Carolina scored 28 of the game’s next 31 points to take a 28-10 lead into halftime.
Rahsul Faison ran in a 12-yard touchdown, then Dylan Stewart strip sacked Cutter Boley and Jatius Geer returned the fumlbe 41 yards for a touchdown. Gerald Kilgore intercepted a Boley pass and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown, then Faison ran in a 6-yard score.
Out of halftime, Kentucky added a field goal, then Matt Fuller ran in a 1-yard touchdown in the fourth for South Carolina.
The Gamecocks led 341-232 in total yards, 163-124 in passing yards and 178-108 in rushing yards.
LaNorris Sellers was 11-of-14 passing for 153 yards, while Mason Love went 1-for-1 for 10 yards on a fake punt. Boley went 10-of-19 for 124 yards and two interceptions for Kentucky.
Sellers led South Carolina with 81 rushing yards, while Fuller added 48. McGowan led Kentucky with 112 rushing yards.
Vandrevius Jacobs led South Carolina with five catches for 108 yards. Willie Rodriguez led Kentucky with two catches for 66 yards.
Kentucky (2-2, 0-2) will play at Georgia at 11 a.m. Saturday.
South Carolina (3-2, 1-2) will be on a bye next week.
No. 22 Notre Dame 56, Arkansas 13
We’ve reached the non-conference games.
And oh boy, Arkansas looked bad.
Notre Dame scored 14 in the first quarter, 28 in the second and added two more touchdowns in the second half to build a big win.
The Fighting Irish led 641-365 in total yards, 431-207 in passing yards and 210-158 in rushing yards.
Taylen Green went 17-of-32 for 207 yards and an interception for Arkansas and he led the Razorbacks in rushing with 81 yards. Mike Washington added 63 rushing yards. Jac’Qawn McRoy had the Razorbacks’ rushing touchdown on a 1-yard carry as Arkansas lined up its big offensive lineman at fullback on the goal line.
O’Mega Blake led Arkansas with 73 receiving yards.
The loss led to Sam Pittman being fired Sunday.
Arkansas (2-3, 0-1) and interim head coach Bobby Petrino will have a bye week to get stuff figured out.
No. 18 Vanderbilt 55, Utah State 35
Utah State hung around in the first half, but Vanderbilt scored 17 third-quarter points to pull away.
The Commodores led 543-393 in total yards, 321-274 in passing yards and 222-119 in rushing yards.
Diego Pavia went 26-of-34 passing for 321 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. He also led Vanderbilt with 79 rushing yards and a score.
Makhilyn Young had Vanderbilt’s other rushing touchdown.
Junior Sherrill was the primary receiver with six catches for 91 yards and three touchdowns, while Tre Richardson added six catches for 74 yards. Richie Hoskins had four catches for 70 yards and a touchdown, while Eli Stowers added six catches for 68 yards and a score.
No. 18 Vanderbilt (5-0, 1-0) will play at No. 17 Alabama (3-1, 1-0) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.