Mississippi State throttles LSU, 37-7
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Nick Fitzgerald threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more scores to help Mississippi State rout No. 12 LSU 37-7 on Saturday night.
Aeris Williams led the Bulldogs with 146 yards rushing and averaged 6.3 yards per carry. Mississippi State (3-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) beat LSU for just the second time in 18 tries dating to 2000.
LSU (2-1, 0-1) easily won its first two games of the season, but was overmatched by Mississippi State on both sides of the ball. The Tigers were also sloppy — two touchdown plays were negated because of penalties. In all, LSU was penalized nine times for 112 yards.
Fitzgerald was 15-of-23 passing for 180 yards. Keith Mixon caught six passes for 97 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Jace Christmann made the first three field goals of his career, connecting from 30, 45 and 27 yards.
LSU tied it at 7 in the second quarter on Darrel Williams’ 10-yard touchdown run. But Mississippi State responded with 30 straight points.
LSU’s Danny Etling completed just 13 of 29 passes for 137 yards. Derrius Guice had 76 yards rushing.
› Texas A&M 45, La.-Lafayette 21
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M needed a second-half comeback to defeat Louisiana-Lafayette at Kyle Field.
The Ragin’ Cajuns (1-2) led 21-14 at halftime before the Aggies scored 31 consecutive points en route to the victory, one preserving embattled coach Kevin Sumlin’s job for at least another week.
After much of the first half went wrong for A&M, the third quarter went entirely right, as the Aggies (2-1) scored 17 points in that span to grab the lead for good. Freshman quarterback Kellen Mond, in beginning to live up to his preseason hype as a five-star prospect, collected a five-yard touchdown run and threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to fellow freshman Camron Buckley in the decisive third quarter.
› Purdue 35, Missouri 3
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Under first-year coach Jeff Brohm, Purdue is showing signs of life. The same can’t be said of Missouri in Barry Odom’s second season.
The Boilermakers dominated the Tigers and will head into Big Ten play just one victory short of last season’s total. It was the fewest points surrendered by Purdue (2-1) since a 59-0 victory over Southeast Missouri State in 2011.
Missouri (1-2) has scored a combined 16 points since its 72-43 season-opening win over Missouri State. The Tigers managed just 203 total yards.
› Kentucky 23, South Carolina 13
Benny Snell Jr. rushed for two touchdowns and Kentucky’s defense held off South Carolina to win its fourth straight over the Gamecocks.
Snell, who’s status was in doubt earlier in the week due to bruised ribs, rushed for scores of 5 and 1 yard in leading the Wildcats (1-0 Southeastern Conference) to their first 3-0 start since 2010. Two years ago, Kentucky snapped a 22-game SEC road losing streak at South Carolina.
This time, the Wildcats left no doubt about who was the better team in this one.
It did not start that way, though.
South Carolina (2-1, 1-1) electrified a sold-out stadium with a 68-yard TD catch by receiver Deebo Samuel on the opening play, then got an interception and a fumble from the Wildcats’ first two drives. But Kentucky’s defense did not allow the Gamecocks any more points after that.