Georgia tough on Mississippi St.
ATHENS, Ga. — From the first snap, the message was clear. Georgia’s back. With a thoroughly dominating performance and plenty of trickery, the No. 11 Bulldogs re-established their presence in the national conversation with the most impressive victory of Kirby Smart’s two-year coaching tenure.
Freshman Jake Fromm threw a pair of touchdown passes in another poised showing on the big stage, while the defense stifled Nick Fitzgerald in a 31-3 rout of No. 17 Mississippi State on Saturday night.
“Everyone’s always talking Georgia this, Georgia that,” receiver Terry Godwin said. “We finally came out and showed you tonight that Georgia’s back. Georgia’s back being that top dog and being the Georgia Bulldogs that we are.”
All it took was one offensive play for the Bulldogs to reach the end zone.
Fromm handed off to Nick Chubb for what looked to be a routine run up the middle. Instead, Chubb wheeled around and tossed the ball back to the quarterback on a flea flicker. Terry Godwin broke into the clear downfield, with the Mississippi State secondary having totally bought the ruse. Fromm delivered the pass in stride for a 59-yard touchdown less than 2½ minutes into the game.
It was pretty much all Georgia (4-0, 1-0) from there. Fromm threw for 201 yards on just 9-of-12 passing, further solidifying his hold on the quarterback job he inherited when Jacob Eason went down with a knee injury in the first quarter of the season opener. ALABAMA 59, VANDERBILT 0 Damien Harris ran for a career-high 151 yards and three touchdowns, Bo Scarbrough added two touchdowns and the top-ranked Crimson Tide routed the Commodores at Nashville, Tenn., in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.
Alabama (4-0) now has won 19 in a row over the SEC East. CLEMSON 34 BOSTON COLLEGE 7
Adam Choice had a 6-yard tiebreaking touchdown in the fourth quarter, and Travis Etienne had two scoring runs in the final six minutes as the No. 2 Tigers wore down the Eagles at Clemson, S.C.
Clemson, which came in off top-15 wins over Auburn and Louisville the last two weeks, was a five-touchdown favorite over BC (1-3, 0-2 Atlantic Coast Conference). USC 30, CALIFORNIA 20
Stephen Carr ran for a fourth-quarter touchdown two plays after the Trojans’ defense forced one of its six turnovers as Southern California won at Berkeley, Calif., for its 13th consecutive victory.
The Trojans (4-0, 2-0 Pac-12) have dominated the series with their in-state rival by winning 14 in a row against the Golden Bears (3-1, 0-1), but this was one of the tightest matchups in years as the game was tied early in the fourth quarter. PENN ST. 21, IOWA 19
Juwan Johnson caught a 7-yard TD pass as time expired, and the fourthranked Nittany Lions rallied to stun the Hawkeyes at Iowa City in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
Saquon Barkley had 211 yards rushing and 94 yards receiving for Penn State (4-0, 1-0), which outgained Iowa 579-273 but nearly blew a game that could have been crippling to its postseason hopes. MICHIGAN 28, PURDUE 10
Chris Evans ran for two touchdowns in the second half, and backup quarterback John O’Korn rallied the No. 8 Wolverines from a halftime deficit to a victory at West Lafayette, Ind.
O’Korn was forced into action when starting quarterback Wilson Speight left late in the first quarter with an undisclosed injury, and the former University of Houston starter came up every bit as big as Michigan’s defense in the second half. AUBURN 51, MISSOURI 14
Kerryon Johnson rushed for a career-high five touchdowns as No. 15 Auburn ended its recent offensive struggles in a victory at Columbia, Mo.
Johnson, who had missed the previous two games with a hamstring injury, finished with 48 yards rushing on 18 carries and fell one short of Carnell Williams’ school record of six rushing touchdowns in a single game. FLORIDA 28, KENTUCKY 27
Freddie Swain caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Luke Del Rio with 43 seconds remaining at Lexington, Ky., to cap the No. 20 Gators’ rally from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit.
Florida extended its winning streak over Kentucky to 31 games, the nation’s longest in FBS, and took early control of the SEC’s Eastern Division.
From wire reports