Tricky Gators upset LSU, 27-19
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Lucas Krull grew up idolizing Tim Tebow, a left-handed quarterback big enough to play tight end, so imagine how wide-eyed Krull was when Tebow spoke in the locker room before Florida’s game against LSU on Saturday.
Krull was even more starstruck when Tebow congratulated him afterward.
A former University of Arkansas pitcher who is now a seldom-used tight end, the 6-foot-6, 255-pound Krull lofted a perfect pass to Feleipe Franks on a trick play that set up No. 22 Florida’s go-ahead touchdown in a 27-19 Southeastern Conference victory against fifthranked LSU.
“I was like, ‘Hey, can we get a picture?’” Krull said. “He was like, ‘Yeah, of course. Great throw. Great team win.’ So that was awesome to be able to talk to him.”
The Gators (5-1, 3-1) scored all of their points after the end of the first quarter, when Tebow became the sixth player inducted into the school’s ring of honor.
“I didn’t want him to let him down that way,” said Florida coach Dan Mullen, who was Tebow’s offensive coordinator for two national championships.
Lamical Perine grinded out tough yards and scored twice on short runs, Florida’s defense was as good as it has been all season and the difference was another perfect trick play called by Mullen.
A week after beating Mississippi State with a double pass, Franks handed off to Krull and slipped around the right side mostly unnoticed. Krull pulled up and lofted a 15-yarder back to Franks that set up Perine’s second touchdown with 8:48 to play.
“That last drive they had was a devastating drive,” said LSU coach Ed Orgeron, whose Tigers dropped to 5-1, 2-1. “We just couldn’t make a play.”
Brad Stewart Jr. returned an interception 25 yards for a touchdown to help the Gators take a 27-19 lead with 1:45 left, and Donovan Stiner picked off another LSU pass on fourth down on the ensuing possession to put the game away.
› Mississippi State 23, No. 8 Auburn 9 STARKVILLE, Miss. — Nick Fitzgerald ran for 195 yards and two touchdowns, and Mississippi State’s defense had another dominant performance to upset Auburn.
The Bulldogs (4-2, 1-2) came into the game among the nation’s top 10 in scoring defense, and they were brilliant on that side of the ball again. The Tigers hit on a couple big plays, but once they neared the end zone the Bulldogs clamped down.
Auburn (4-2, 1-2) settled for three field goals, which wasn’t nearly enough.
Mississippi State’s offense was a two-man show between Fitzgerald and Kylin Hill. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound Fitzgerald became the SEC’s career leader for rushing yards for a quarterback with a 39-yard run in the fourth quarter, passing Tebow.
› Texas A&M 20,
No. 13 Kentucky 14, OT
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Trayveon Williams flipped into the end zone on a 10-yard touchdown run in overtime to lift the Aggies (4-2, 2-1).
The Wildcats’ Miles Butler missed a 43-yard field goal to start overtime, with the ball bouncing back off the crossbar, and Texas A&M capitalized with Williams’ touchdown run four plays later.
The Wildcats (5-1, 3-1) were trying to improve to 6-0 for the first time since 1950.
› South Carolina 37, Missouri 25
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina backup quarterback Michael Scarnecchia threw for three touchdowns in his first college start, and Parker White kicked the game-winning 33-yard field goal with two seconds left to keep Missouri winless in league play.
The Tigers (3-2, 0-2) had gone ahead 35-34 on Tucker McCann’s career-long 57-yard field goal with 1:18 remaining. But with Scarnecchia leading them, the Gamecocks drove to the Missouri 16, where White nailed his third go-ahead field goal of the game.
The Gamecocks (3-2, 2-2) rallied after trailing 23-14 at halftime to earn their third straight win in the series, surviving a game that lasted more than five hours due to weather delays. When White’s kick sailed through, only a few thousand soggy fans remained from the announced crowd of 73,393.
Scarnecchia, a senior, started when Jake Bentley was kept out due to a knee injury sustained last week against Kentucky.
› Ole Miss 70, UL-Monroe 21 OXFORD, Miss. — Jordan Ta’amu passed for 374 yards and accounted for five touchdowns as the Rebels scored touchdowns on their first nine possessions to rout the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Ta’amu was 21-of-24 passing, including first-half touchdowns to A.J. Brown, D.K. Metcalf and DaMarkus Lodge for 20, 62 and 16 yards, respectively. Ta’amu added touchdown runs of 1 and 39 yards, individually accounting for 437 yards of total offense before sitting out the second half. The Rebels (4-2) led 49-7 at halftime. The Warhawks, from the Sun Belt Conference, have lost four straight after starting 2-0.