Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Perine, defense lift Florida past Auburn
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Lamical Perine ran 88 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, Florida’s defense delivered another gem and the No. 10 Gators beat seventh-ranked Auburn 24-13 in the Swamp on Saturday.
Perine broke linebacker K.J. Britt’s tackle at the line of scrimmage and scampered down the sideline for the program’s longest TD run in more than 30 years. It gave the Gators (6-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) extra breathing room in a game they never trailed.
The biggest reason they led throughout: defense.
Jon Greenard and David Reese were the stars of the show for Florida, which has given up a measly 16 points in four home games this season.
The Gators kept JaTarvious Whitlow in check and harassed freshman quarterback Bo Nix, whose father, Patrick, upset top-ranked Florida in Gainesville in 1994.
Nix completed 11 of 27 passes for 145 yards for Auburn (5-1, 2-1), with a touchdown and three interceptions. He was sacked three times, once for a 22-yard loss in which he looked completely lost.
Florida’s Kyle Trask was equally turnover-prone, although much more efficient through the air. He was seemingly knocked out of the game in the second quarter when Auburn star Derrick Brown landed on his left leg. Trask eventually walked to the locker room with no assistance and returned to a raucous ovation.
He completed 19 of 31 passes for 234 yards and two touchdowns. He also fumbled three times.
Florida coach Dan Mullen told CBS at halftime that Trask sprained a knee ligament.
NO. 5 LSU 42, UTAH STATE 6
BATON ROUGE, La. — Joe Burrow didn’t sound too impressed with his latest historically significant performance for unbeaten LSU.
Burrow became the first LSU quarterback to eclipse 300 yards passing in four straight games and threw for five touchdowns to help the fifth-ranked Tigers defeat Utah State.
“Last year, we would have been very happy” with a 36-point victory margin and 601 yards of offense, Burrow said. “But this is a new team and a new offense. Things have changed around here when you are not happy with this performance.”
Perhaps that’s a wise stance considering what’s coming up on the Tigers’ schedule. Three of their next four games are against teams that spent the past week ranked in the top 10: No. 10 Florida, No. 7 Auburn and No. 1 Alabama.
Burrow, who has finished only one fourth quarter this season because of lopsided scores, has completed 78.3 percent of his passes for 1,864 yards and 22 touchdowns through five games as he remains on pace to threaten most LSU single-season passing records.
MISSOURI 42, TROY 10
COLUMBIA, Mo. — The only drama in the second half of Missouri’s victory over Troy revolved around a player who was in the locker room.
Senior quarterback Kelly Bryant was knocked out of the game late in the first half with an apparent knee injury, and the Tigers’ dreams of contending with the heavyweights of the SEC East hinged on his health.
After the game, coach Barry Odom was cautiously optimistic.
“Kelly is getting checked out now, and I’ll hopefully find out something later tonight,” Odom said after the Tigers improved to 4-1.
NO. 3 GEORGIA 43, TENNESSEE 14
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Jake Fromm threw two touchdown passes, Georgia’s defense delivered a dominant second-half performance and the No. 3 Bulldogs recovered from a slow start to beat Tennessee.
Georgia (5-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) scored the final 33 points to earn its 15th straight victory over Eastern Division opponent. Georgia capped the onslaught when Tae Crowder scored on a 60-yard fumble return with 4:39 left after Eric Stokes sacked Brian Maurer to knock the ball loose.
The Bulldogs haven’t lost to an SEC East team since falling 24-10 to Florida on Oct. 29, 2016.
MISSISSIPPI 31, VANDERBILT 6
OXFORD, Miss. — Jerrion Ealy and Snoop Conner each had big touchdown runs in the third quarter to help Mississippi pull away from Vanderbilt for a win on.
Ole Miss (3-3, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) broke open a precarious 10-6 halftime lead with the scoring runs to open the initial two series of the second half.