Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
No. 23 Rebels find their rhythm, beat No. 12 Georgia 45-14
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Chad Kelly threw for 282 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score to lead No. 23 Mississippi over No. 12 Georgia 45-14 on Saturday.
The Rebels (2-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) dominated every phase of the game, building a lead of 31-0 by halftime and 45-0 by midway through the third quarter.
Ole Miss broke a 10game losing streak in the series dating to 1996.
“I can’t think of a time in my lifetime where a team has done that to Georgia,” said Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze.
Georgia (3-1, 1-1) lost its first game under new coach Kirby Smart and looked overmatched. To make matters worse, star running back Nick Chubb injured an ankle in the second quarter and didn’t return.
It was an impressive win for the Rebels, who finally built a big lead they didn’t give away. Ole Miss led Florida State by 22 points and Alabama by 21 this season before losing both games.
“We’ve certainly had experiences that we should have learned from,” Freeze said.
Kelly was sharp from the opening series, completing 18 of 24 passes and adding a 41-yard touchdown run right through the middle of the Georgia defense. Tight end Evan Engram led the Rebels with six catches for 95 yards.
“When we get in a rhythm, it’s hard for people to stop us,” Engram said.
Brian Herrien led the Bulldogs with 78 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Freshman quarterback Jacob Eason had a tough day, completing just 16 of 36 passes for 137 yards and an interception. …
No. 1 Alabama 48, Kent St. 0: Jalen Hurts ran and passed for a touchdown and tailback sub Joshua Jacobs scored his first two career touchdowns in No. 1 Alabama’s 48-0 win Saturday over Kent State.
The Crimson Tide (4-0) dominated coach Nick Saban’s alma mater from the start while scoring on a kickoff return and even a short touchdown throw to freshman linebacker Mack Wilson. The bad news for Alabama is starting tailback Damien Harris went down on the opening drive with a sprained right ankle and didn’t return.
Harris was hardly needed in this game, when No. 2 quarterback Blake Barnett played much of the way and the emerging freshman Jacobs ran for 97 yards. It amounted to a Saturday afternoon respite for the Tide after a bruising 48-43 comeback win over No. 23 Mississippi.
“The goal going into this game was to play a complete game, start fast, finish, and I think we probably did that as well as we’ve done all year,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said.
Hurts was 16-of-24 passing for 164 yards and ran for 54 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown to cap the opening drive. He found Wilson, who lines up at fullback in goal line situations, for a 1-yard third-quarter score that was supposed to go to tight end O.J. Howard.
“It’s his first career (touchdown), so I can’t be mad about that,” Howard said. “I’m happy somebody caught it.”
He did catch a 34-yarder from Barnett, who first got into the game early in the second quarter. Saban said Harris is “day to day” and his status is uncertain against Kentucky.
Alabama did whatever it wanted in the first half, outgaining Kent State 352-53 and amassing a 41-0 lead. The Golden Flashes, who had trailed Penn State 16-13 at halftime in the opener, managed just 13 passing yards in the first three quarters before finally driving in the fourth.
Backup quarterback George Bollas was initially given a touchdown on a fourth-quarter run toward the goal line, but was ruled down at the 1 after a review.
Most of the fans, including all but a handful of students, were long gone by then. …
Mississippi State 47, UMass 35: Aeris Williams ran for a 16-yard touchdown and Jamoral Graham returned an interception 38 yards for a score on the next play from scrimmage to help Mississippi State erase a thirdquarter deficit and beat Massachusetts 47-35 on Saturday.
The two scores 17 seconds apart were followed four minutes later by a 13-yard touchdown pass from Nick Fitzgerald to Farrod Green that made it 41-21 just before the end of the third quarter.
Fitzgerald completed 25 of 38 passes for 299 yards and three touchdowns, and he also ran for 110 yards for the Bulldogs (2-2). Fred Ross caught eight passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns for Mississippi State, which once again struggled to play well for two halves in a row.
Andrew Ford, making his second start for the injured Ross Comis, completed 24 of 40 passes for 273 yards and four touchdowns for UMass (1-3). But he also overthrew his receiver on the first play after Mississippi State’s go-ahead touchdown, and Graham was there to make it 34-21.
UMass failed to move on its next possession and punted it back to the Bulldogs, who took over on their own 39-yard line. Fitzgerald went 3 for 3 on the drive and also added a 15-yard run as Mississippi State converted its third touchdown in 4 minutes, 11 seconds.
The Bulldogs are coming off a loss to then-No. 20 LSU in which they rallied from a 20-0 deficit only to lose 23-20. They also led South Alabama 17-0 at halftime in their opener but lost 21-20. Against South Carolina, Mississippi State led 24-0 at halftime before holding on for a 27-14 win.
Marquis Young ran for 125 yards, including an 83-yard touchdown in the first quarter that gave UMass a 7-3 lead. Jalen Williams caught two touchdown passes, and Bernard Davis and Sadiq Palmer each had one for the Minutemen. …
Missouri 79, Delaware State 0: Drew Lock threw a school record-tying five touchdown passes, and Missouri shattered its school scoring record, dismantling Delaware State.
The previous record of 69 points has occurred three times, most recently on Sept. 17, 2011, when the Tigers shut out Western Illinois.
Lock completed 26 of 36 pass attempts for 402 yards.
The Tigers (2-2, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) led 58-0 at halftime, resulting in a shortened second half. The third and fourth quarters were reduced from 15 minutes to 10.
Delaware State (0-3) managed just 140 yards of offense, 133 of which came in the first half. Mike Waters rushed seven times for 31 yards and Brycen Alleyne had nine carries for 21 yards.
Daniel Epperson started at quarterback for the Hornets, but completed only 3 of 9 passes and was replaced by Kobie Lain, who finished 7 of 15 for 82 yards.
J’Mon Moore had eight catches for 114 yards and four touchdowns, tying the school record for receiving touchdowns.
Damarea Crockett led the Tigers in rushing with 12 carries for 115 yards and two touchdowns. Ish Witter added 9 rushes for 40 yards and a touchdown.
Lock did not play in the second half and backup quarterback Marvin Zanders completed both of his pass attempts for 17 yards and a touchdown, while rushing seven times for 83 yards and two scores. …
Auburn 18, No. 18 LSU 13: Daniel Carlson kicked six field goals and Auburn beat No. 18 LSU 18-13 after officials ruled Danny Etling’s apparent last-gasp scoring pass came after time expired.
Etling rolled to his right and found D.J. Shark on a 15-yard pass, setting off a celebration by LSU players. Officials ruled time expired before Etling took the snap.
The celebration shifted to the Auburn sideline when officials announced the decisive ruling.
It was an important win for Auburn (2-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) and coach Gus Malzahn, who faced increased criticism following losses to Top 25 opponents Clemson and Texas A&M.
An illegal shift penalty against LSU (2-2, 1-1 SEC) left the Tigers with a fourth-down play from the 15 with 5 seconds remaining, setting up the final-play drama.
Carlson kicked a 37-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to give Auburn a 15-13 lead. He added to the lead with a 29-yarder with less than 3 minutes remaining before LSU began its desperate, final drive.
Carlson is 12 for 12 on field goals this season.
LSU star running back Leonard Fournette had 16 carries for 101 yards.
Auburn linebacker Tre Williams was ejected for targeting in the second quarter.
There was no flag after Williams’ helmet-to-helmet hit knocked quarterback Danny Etling out of the game for a play. The hit sent Etling’s helmet to the ground and left him with a bloody nose.
A review by the officials determined Williams led with the crown of his helmet on the hit. …
Kentucky 17, South Carolina 10: Benny Snell Jr. scored the go-ahead touchdown from 1 yard midway through the fourth quarter, Boom Williams broke a 43-yard TD and Kentucky held off South Carolina night for their third straight series victory over the Gamecocks.
Inconsistent offensively in the first half, the Wildcats (2-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) got going after halftime with another strong performance by their hard-charging backfield tandem. Williams rushed 15 times for 123 yards including his big run down the left side for a 10-7 lead early in the third quarter.
Snell followed with nine carries for 41 of Kentucky’s 65 yards on the 11-play drive, all achieved on the ground. The freshman finished with 73 yards on 16 attempts as the Wildcats won their second in a row. The two combined for 317 yards rushing last week against New Mexico State.
Kentucky’s defense preserved the lead with two big sacks on South Carolina’s final possession, including Denzil Ware’s tackle of Brandon McIlwain for a 19-yard loss on fourth and 17. Kentucky recorded four sacks overall and held the Gamecocks (2-2, 1-2 SEC) to 268 yards. …
No. 10 Texas A&M 45, No. 17 Arkansas 24: Trevor Knight had two long touchdowns before halftime and threw a 92-yard pass to Josh Reynolds right after Arkansas was stopped three times from the 1, and No. 10 Texas A&M beat the 17th-ranked Razorbacks.
Reynolds caught the ball in stride just short of midfield, and quickly shed defensive back DJ Dean on his way to the end zone to break a 17-all tie and put the Aggies (4-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) ahead to stay.
Texas A&M has won five straight against the Razorbacks (3-1, 0-1), all since joining the SEC in 2012.
The long catch-and-run by Reynolds came two plays after Keon Hatcher was tackled for a 5-yard loss on fourth down, ending a 19-play drive for the Razorbacks that took 10 minutes after Texas A&M had fumbled from the Arkansas 2.
Quarterback Austin Allen was stopped twice from the 1, though officials reviewed the third-down run before ruling that the play stood. One overhead replay showed that with the help of his tight end basically pulling Allen toward the end zone show just how close the ball was to the end zone.
Earlier, the Razorbacks had to settle for a field goal after six snaps from the 2 on the same series.
Knight’s 48-yard TD run just before halftime tied the game at 17-all, after an earlier 42-yard scoring run. He finished with 10 rushes for 159 yards, the last a 62-yarder on third down in the final minute of the game.