Mond helps Texas A&M scrape by Florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Kellen Mond made several huge plays, Daniel LaCamera kicked four field goals and Texas A&M handed Florida a second home loss in as many weeks, 19-17 on Saturday night.

LaCamera’s 32-yarder with 58 seconds remaining proved to be the difference, but Mond made everything happen for the Aggies (5-2, 3-1). The freshman completed 8 passes for 180 yards, and added 52 yards and 1 touchdown on the ground.

Mond had completions of 40 and 42 yards to set up fourth-quarter field goals, and Christian Kirk returned a punt 43 yards to set up the game-winner.

Florida (3-3, 3-2) had one final chance in its new, alligator-skin uniforms, but Feleipe Franks threw an interception on first down to end any chance of a comeback.

The loss essentially knocked the Gators out of contention in the SEC’s Eastern Division race and surely will stoke more questions about the direction of the programs in Coach Jim McElwain’s third season.

Florida dominated in yards (371-263) and first downs (1710), but came up short on the scoreboard.

The Gators may have been fortunate to score their first touchdown, which came after a bizarre do-over late in the second quarter.

Lamical Perine was seemingly stopped short on a fourth-and-1 play at the Texas A&M 17-yard line. But officials supposedly whistled the play dead before the snap. So Perine got another shot, picked up the first down and then scored on the next play against the stunned Aggies.

Perine made three defenders miss and then carried a fourth into the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown and a 10-3 lead.

Texas A&M tied the game on the opening possession of the second half. Mond completed a 30-yard pass to Camron Buckley to start the drive and capped it with a 9-yard run on a third-and-goal draw play that caught the Gators off guard.

The Gators responded two series later, thanks mostly to Franks’ 79-yard run in which five tackles failed to bring him down. Franks zigzagged his way across the field before getting brought down at the 13-yard line. A sideline infraction penalty moved the ball to the 6, and Dre Massey scored on a jet sweep on the first play of the fourth quarter.

But the Aggies controlled the final frame.

NO. 4 GEORGIA 53, MISSOURI 28

ATHENS, Ga. — Sony Michel ran for two touchdowns as No. 4 Georgia found its running game after a slow start and took control with 26 unanswered points to beat Missouri.

Georgia (7-0, 4-0) recovered from an early scare by gaining 696 total yards, including 370 on the ground. Missouri (1-5, 0-4) suffered its fifth consecutive loss as it faded after a 21-21 tie in the second quarter.

D’Andre Swift ran for 94 yards, including a 71-yarder, Michel had 86 yards and Nick Chubb added 70 yards to lead Georgia’s deep ground attack. Fromm threw for 326 yards with 2 touchdowns and added a 4-yard scoring run.

MISSISSIPPI STATE 35, BRIGHAM YOUNG 10

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Nick Fitzgerald had a hand in four touchdowns to lead Mississippi State to a victory over BYU.

Mississippi State (4-2) returned to form offensively after a bye week and two consecutive blowout losses on the road to ranked opponents. Executing Coach Dan Mullen’s balanced plan of attack, the Bulldogs had 306 rushing yards and Fitzgerald threw for 241 to cross the 500-yard mark in total offense for the third time this season.

BYU (1-6) intercepted two Fitzgerald passes in the end zone, both by Dayan Ghanwoloku, but could only convert one into points. The Cougars struggled offensively, finishing with 176 total yards and only eight first downs.

MISSISSIPPI 57, VANDERBILT 35

OXFORD, Miss. — Shea Patterson threw for 351 yards and 4 touchdowns as Ole Miss (3-3, 1-2) snapped its threegame losing streak to Vanderbilt (3-4, 0-4), which has now lost four consecutive.

A.J. Brown caught 8 passes for 174 yards and 2 touchdowns for the Rebels and DaMarkus Lodge also caught two touchdown passes.

SOUTH CAROLINA 15, TENNESSEE 9

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Parker White made all three of his field-goal attempts, including a tiebreaking 21-yarder with 5:17 remaining, and South Carolina (5-2, 3-2) produced a goal-line stand Saturday in the closing seconds of its victory over slumping Tennessee (3-3, 0-3).