Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Johnson’s career-best five TDs lead No. 15 Auburn past Missouri
NO. 15 AUBURN 51, MISSOURI 14
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Kerryon Johnson rushed for a career-high five touchdowns and No. 15 Auburn ended its recent offensive struggles in a 51-14 victory over Missouri on Saturday night.
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 game.
Jarrett Stidham added 218 yards passing and a touchdown while completing 13 of 17 passes for Auburn (3-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference). Auburn’s Carlton Davis also had an interception, one of four Missouri (1-3, 0-2) turnovers in the game.
“First of all, I’m very pleased with the win on the road in the SEC,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “We were pretty balanced. I thought our defense played outstanding again.”
Drew Lock finished 23of-39 passing for 216 yards and a pair of touchdowns for Missouri, which allowed its most points since a 63-37 loss to Tennessee last season.
The Tigers’ offense entered the game looking like anything but a Malzahn-coached team, having allowed 11 sacks in a loss to Clemson and committing five turnovers in last week’s win over Mercer. Aided by Johnson’s return, Auburn returned to its high-scoring form from the start — highlighted by completions of 58 and 46 yards by Stidham in the first half.
NO. 20 FLORIDA 28, KENTUCKY 27
Freddie Swain caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Luke Del Rio with 43 seconds remaining to cap No. 20 Florida’s rally from a 13-point, fourth-quarter deficit that beat Kentucky 28-27 on Saturday night.
The Gators extended their winning streak over the Wildcats to 31 games, the nation’s longest streak in FBS, and took early control of the Southeastern Conference’s Eastern Division. And it required everything they had after trailing most of the night.
Down 27-14 in the fourth quarter, Florida (2-1, 2-0) got within a touchdown on Brandon Powell’s 6-yard TD run with 7:58 left. Del Rio then marched the Gators 58 yards for the winning score to stun a blue-clad sellout crowd of 61,000 hungry to see Kentucky end a generation of frustration against the Gators.
Kentucky’s last chance to win ended when Austin MacGinnis’ 57-yard field goal fell short as time expired.
Del Rio, who relieved Feleipe Franks in the second half, completed 9 of 14 passes for 74 yards.
The Gators played catchup all night and their perseverance once again paid off in the end thanks to Del Rio, who was the QB in last year’s 45-7 rout of Kentucky in Gainesville. They ended up outgaining the Wildcats 395340 and dealt another painful loss to Kentucky.