Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Burrow shines as No. 2 LSU tops No. 9 Auburn
BATON ROUGE, La. — Joe Burrow passed for 321 yards and a touchdown, ran for another score, and second-ranked LSU edged No. 9 Auburn 23-20 on Saturday.
The victory ensured LSU (8-0, 4-0 SEC) would be unbeaten heading into its highly anticipated trip to Alabama on Nov. 9, which entered this weekend ranked No. 1.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire rushed for 136 yards and touchdown for LSU, which wasn’t able to put away Auburn (6-2, 3-2) until Derrick Dillon recovered an onside kick with 2:31 left.
While LSU’s prolific, up-tempo spread offense was able to roll up 508 yards, scoring proved relatively difficult against a gritty Auburn defense that thwarted LSU drives into its territory with a pair of fourth-down stops and an interception.
LSU came in averaging 50.1 points per game and had not previously scored fewer than 36 points in a game, but Auburn’s defensive front put pressure on Burrow, sacking him three times.
Still, Burrow didn’t flinch when he was leveled along the sideline after a first down scramble in the first half. He responded by completing five of his next six throws, ending with a 20-yard touchdown on a fade to Terrace Marshall Jr. Burrow completed 32 of 42 passes and his eighth career 300-yard passing performance gave him the most of any QB in LSU history. Ja’Marr Chase caught eight passes for 123 yards.
Bo Nix completed 15 of 35 passes for 157 yards and one late touchdown to Seth Williams that gave Auburn the opportunity to set up a meaningful onside kick.
D.J. Williams rushed for 130 yards for Auburn, which looked prime to go ahead by a touchdown in the third quarter when Williams sprinted into the open field from his own 20.
Safety Grant Delpit forced Williams out of bounds just inside the 10, and Auburn was not able to turn the 70-yard run into a touchdown, settling instead for a field goal and 1310 lead.
That lead lasted until five minutes remained in the third quarter, in part because of LSU decided against a tying field goal attempt on fourthand-goal from the Auburn 2, and instead tried a receiver screen to Ja’Marr Chase that was stopped a yard short of the goal line. Later in the quarter, LSU again was threatening to score when Burrow’s pass intended for Chase was intercepted by Roger McCreary at the Auburn 2.
That was the latest LSU had trailed in a game this season.
TEXAS A&M 49, MISSISSIPPI STATE 30
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Kellen Mond threw for 234 yards and accounted for five touchdowns and Texas A&M got a win over mistake-prone Mississippi State.
The Aggies (5-3, 3-2 SEC) led by 18 points at halftime after taking advantage of two turnovers by Mississippi State (3-5, 1-4).
They didn’t waste any time getting going in the second half when Jalen Wydermyer scored a touchdown on a 52-yard catch and run on the fourth play of the third quarter to make it 35-10.
Garrett Schrader threw a 14-yard pass to Isaiah Zuber for a score to cut the lead to 35-17 on Mississippi State’s first drive of the second half.
But freshman Isaiah Spiller had a 4-yard TD run after that to stretch it to 42-17.
Kylin Hill had a 39-yard run on Mississippi State’s next drive and capped it with a 4-yard touchdown run to get the Bulldogs within 42-24 early in the fourth.
Texas A&M had to punt on its next possession, but Stephen Guidry fumbled after a 25-yard reception on the first play of the next drive and the Aggies recovered. A 2-yard touchdown run by Cordarrian Richardson came after that to make it 49-24 with five minutes to seal the victory.
Mond had scoring runs of one and 12 yards and threw TD passes of 16, 19 and 52 yards.
Shrader was 13 of 30 for 194 yards with three touchdowns and one interception as the Bulldogs lost their fourth in a row. Hill ran for 150 yards and a score.
TENNESSEE 41, SOUTH CAROLINA 21
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee’s Jarrett Guarantano could sense the approaching pass rush just as the quarterback released the pass that would knock him out of the game and put his team ahead for good.
If nothing else, Guarantano certainly has proved the last month he knows how to take a hit.
Guarantano bounced back from a miserable week and threw two touchdown passes as Tennessee withstood the absence of injured starting quarterback Brian Maurer in a 41-21 victory over South Carolina on Saturday.
“I was just very happy with these guys,” Guarantano said. “I love seeing the smiles on their faces when they win. That’s really the most important thing to me right now.”
Tennessee (3-5, 2-3 SEC) outscored South Carolina 240 in the second half to end a three-game skid in this annual series.
The Volunteers threw for a season-high 351 yards as Guarantano and redshirt freshman J.T. Shrout shared the quarterback duties with Maurer unavailable after sustaining concussions each of the last two weeks.
That represented a stunning turnaround for Guarantano, who was roasted around town and on social media after his fourth-andgoal fumble in a 35-13 loss to No. 1 Alabama last week was returned 100 yards for a game-clinching touchdown.
KENTUCKY 29, MISSOURI 7
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Lynn Bowden Jr. rushed for 204 yards and two touchdowns to lead Kentucky to a 29-7 win over Missouri Saturday night.
The two teams combined for seven fumbles and four lost miscues in a steady rain that didn’t seem to bother Bowden. Going into the second bye week of the season, the Wildcats (4-4, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) moved within two wins of bowl eligibility with four games remaining. Kentucky has won five straight over the Tigers.
Making his third consecutive start in the absence of injured starter Sawyer Smith, Bowden was nearly unstoppable. Sparked by Bowden, the Wildcats rushed for 297 yards under adverse weather conditions. Bowden has rushed for 400 yards and four touchdowns since taking over as the team’s starting quarterback.
To get his impressive night going, Bowden threw a career-best 44-yard strike to Bryce Oliver that led to a 1-yard touchdown run by Kavosiey Smoke, giving the Wildcats a 6-0 lead with 12:27 remaining in the second quarter. Bowden also contributed to the drive with an 18-yard run.
Smith replaced Bowden for three plays in the second quarter, but returned and rushed for a first down on a fourth-down play that led to a 20-yard score by A.J. Rose.