Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Auburn rallies to knock off Washington
ATLANTA — The Auburn Tigers had some bad memories from their last two trips to Atlanta.
They headed home from this one feeling a whole lot better.
With a performance that didn’t earn a bunch of style points but will look awfully good on the resume, No. 9 Auburn rallied for a 21-16 victory over No. 6 Washington when Jatarvious Whitlow ran 10 yards for a touchdown with 6:15 remaining Saturday.
The Auburn defense came through at the end, preserving the victory with a fierce pass rush against Jake Browning.
“We talked about overcoming adversity,” Tigers Coach Gus Malzahn said. “Last season we didn’t win hardly any close games. We knew this game was going to come down to the end.”
The Tigers closed last season with back-to-back losses at Mercedes-Benz Stadium — first to Georgia in the SEC championship game, then to Central Florida in the Peach Bowl. They were facing another disappointment, trailing 1615 after scoring a touchdown on their opening possession of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game but missing a surprise twopoint conversion.
Jarrett Stidham got Auburn rolling with a 12-yard pass to Chandler Cox on third-and-9. Then, facing third-and-7 deep in Washington territory, Auburn handed off inside to Whitlow, who knocked over a Washington safety as he barreled into the end zone to cap a 10-play, 76-yard drive.
“It was an amazing feeling,” said Whitlow, part of the group trying to replace workhorse runner Kerryon Johnson, who’s now in the NFL. “I’m so grateful that the coaches have confidence in me in that situation.”
Washington drove to the Auburn 37 with plenty of time to pull off the comeback, but Myles Gaskin was thrown for a 3-yard loss and Browning was left running for his life on the Huskies’ last two offensive plays. Big Kat Bryant sacked the quarterback for another 3-yard setback, and safety Smoke Monday finished it off with a blitz that forced Browning to just fling the ball away, resulting in an intentional grounding penalty.
Stidham was 26 of 36 for 273 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown pass to Sal Cannella, who made a leaping grab in the end zone before landing flat on his back.
Browning, looking to bounce back from a disappointing junior season, completed 18 of 32 for 296 yards. He was picked off once but connected with Quinten Pounds on a 13-yard touchdown in the final minute of the first half.
“We’re not into moral victories,” Browning said. “We came here to win, and we didn’t.”
Peyton Henry put the Huskies ahead for the first time with his third field goal, a 30-yarder that clanked off the right upright but ricocheted through with 14:06 remaining.
NO. 3 GEORGIA 45, AUSTIN PEAY 0
ATHENS, Ga. — Jake Fromm threw two scoring passes while sharing time with freshman Justin Fields and Georgia showed off some new firepower in rolling past Austin Peay.
Georgia (1-0) flashed big-play potential, including a 59-yard touchdown pass from Fromm to Mecole Hardman and a 72-yard scoring run by Demetris Robertson, who was making his debut.
KENTUCKY 35, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 20
LEXINGTON, Ky. — A.J. Rose and Benny Snell Jr. each rushed for two touchdowns, Gunnar Hoak came off the bench to throw the go-ahead TD pass and Kentucky overcame four first-half turnovers to beat Central Michigan.
For a while the upset-minded Chippewas seemed poised to make the Wildcats their third Power Five victim in as many seasons by scoring all their points off takeaways and building a 177, second quarter lead. Kentucky rallied with two TDs over the final four minutes of the half and went on to win.
MISSOURI 51, TENNESSEE-MARTIN 14
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Offensive coordinators come and go, but Drew Lock continues to produce big numbers for Missouri, which beat Tennessee-Martin.
Lock, who set an SEC record with 44 touchdown passes last year, completed 19 of 25 passes for 289 yards and four TDs against the Skyhawks. It was his first game with new offensive coordinator Derek Dooley, the third coordinator in Lock’s four-year career.
SOUTH CAROLINA 49, COASTAL CAROLINA 15
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Jake Bentley threw for four touchdowns, Rico Dowdle scored twice and South Carolina beat Coastal Carolina in a season opener for each team.
The Gamecocks didn’t show any sign of their historical pattern of letting smaller opponents hang around. South Carolina scored in the first three minutes, twice in the first 10 and put the game away on its third touchdown with 6:03 to go before halftime.
MISSISSIPPI 47, TEXAS TECH 27
HOUSTON — Jordan Ta’amu threw for 336 yards and two touchdowns and Scottie Phillips ran for a career-high 204 yards and two more scores to give Mississippi a victory over Texas Tech.
Phillips extended Mississippi’s lead to 37-20 when he scampered 65 yards for a touchdown with about seven minutes left in the third quarter.