Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
A&M upsets Florida
Isaiah Spiller (above) rushed for 174 yards and two touchdowns, and no. 21 texas a&M beat fourth-ranked Florida 41-38 on Seth Small’s 26-yard field goal as time expired Saturday. Jimbo Fisher got his first victory over a top-five team since taking over as texas a&M coach.
NO. 21 TEXAS A&M 41, NO. 4 FLORIDA 38
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Jimbo Fisher got his first win against a top-five opponent since taking over at Texas A&M.
And just like that, he started looking ahead to next weekend.
“This game shows you what you’re capable of,” the coach said. “Now I want to see what do you follow up with?”
Isaiah Spiller rushed for 174 yards and two touchdowns, and No. 21 Texas A&M beat fourth-ranked Florida 41-38 on Seth Small’s 26-yard field goal as time expired Saturday.
Spiller helped get the Aggies get into position for Small’s decisive kick, sending A&M to its first win over a top-five team since a 41-38 victory over No. 3 Auburn in 2014. It was the school’s first such victory at home since it toppled No. 1 Oklahoma 30-26 in 2002.
“I think this is a real big confidence-booster,” Spiller said. “I feel like we really gained our identity.”
Fisher brushed off the notion that it was a signature win or it meant more than anything he’s done in three seasons in College Station.
“It’s a good win,” he said. “It’s a big win … but they’re all big wins.”
Kellen Mond threw a 51yard pass to Caleb Chapman for a tying TD with about 4½ minutes to go.
The Gators were driving when Buddy Johnson forced a fumble by Malik Davis, and it was recovered by DeMarvin Leal to set up the game-ending field goal.
“We had plenty of opportunities to put the game away,” quarterback Kyle Trask said. “So you can’t blame it all on one play because it shouldn’t even been close if we would have executed on the drives that we didn’t score on.”
Mond passed for 338 yards and three touchdowns to help the Aggies (2-1, 2-1) down the previously undefeated Gators (2-1, 2-1).
Trask had 312 yards passing and four TDs. But the Gators were done in by the late mistake and another poor performance by their defense.
“We’re playing 10 SEC games in a row,” Florida Coach Dan Mullen said. “We have to get over this one quick. It’s more like an NFL schedule.”
Mullen was disappointed that the Gators allowed A&M to convert 12 of 15 third-down opportunities.
“We’re going to evaluate a lot of things defensively, and our ability to make plays and get off the field,” he said.
Chapman finished with 9 receptions for 151 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Aggies bounced back from last week’s lopsided loss to No. 2 Alabama.
NO. 2 ALABAMA 63, MISSISSIPPI 48
OXFORD, Miss. — Najee Harris ran for 206 yards and five touchdowns and No. 2 Alabama beat Mississippi and former Crimson Tide assistant Lane Kiffin in the highest-scoring SEC regulation game ever.
Matt Corral passed for 365 yards for Ole Miss (1-2) and the Rebels put up 647 yards on the Tide. The teams combined for an SEC-record 1,370 yards.
Alabama and Ole Miss traded touchdowns for much of the night, but with the Tide (3-0) leading 49-42 the Rebels misfired in Alabama territory and had to settle for a field goal. That was as good as a stop in this game. Receiver DeVonta Smith went 14 yards for a touchdown run to make it 56-45 with 3:16 left.
After another Ole Miss field goal, Alabama recovered an onside kick and Harris busted a 39-yard touchdown run moments later to seal it.
MISSOURI 45, NO. 17 LSU 41
COLUMBIA, Mo. — In a game that was dominated by a pair of offenses that seemingly couldn’t be stopped, it was the much-maligned Missouri defense that managed to stand tall against No. 17 LSU when it came time to decide the game.
Connor Bazelak threw for 406 yards and four touchdowns despite missing three of his top receiving targets due to covid-19 protocols and Coach Eli Drinkwitz’s bunch held four times at the the 1-yard line in the final minute to escape with a victory in a game moved from Baton Rouge because of Hurricane Delta.
“Our guys didn’t flinch today,” Drinkwitz said. “They didn’t flinch after terrible turnovers. They didn’t flinch at the goal line. They just kept fighting. And that’s our No. 1 core value, always compete.”
LSU had taken a 41-38 lead when Cade York hit a 51-yard field goal on the final play of the third quarter. But when York tried to extend the lead midway through the fourth, his 45-yarder was blocked, and Missouri needed just four plays — the big one a 69-yard pass to Chance Luper — before Bazelak hit Nico Hea with the go-ahead touchdown with 5:18 to go.
Myles Brennan, who threw for 430 yards and four TDs, quickly moved LSU the other direction. Terrace Marshall Jr. had four catches on the drive, the last a completion to the 1-yard line with 44 seconds left. But after Tyrion Davis-Price was stuffed twice up the middle, Missouri batted down two consecutive passes to preserve the upset.
Tyler Badie took part in an early flea-flicker for a touchdown, then had TDs on the ground and through the air, as Mizzou (1-2) piled up 586 yards of total offense behind a freshman quarterback and his talented running backs.
Larry Rountree ran for 119 yards for Mizzou.
The defending national champions, who were 0 for 10 on third down, fell to 1-2 for the first time since 1994.
SOUTH CAROLINA 41, VANDERBILT 7
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Collin Hill ran for two touchdowns and Kevin Harris ran for two TDs and a career-high 171 yards as the Gamecocks beat Vanderbilt for their first victory of the season.
“Right now any win helps regardless of where it is,” Gamecocks Coach Will Muschamp said. “At the end of the day, our guys stuck together.
The Gamecocks (1-2, 1-2) won their 12th consecutive in this series by dominating Vanderbilt 486-249 in total offense and three sacks on a rainy day. South Carolina had more yards rushing (290) than the Commodores had total yards.
Harris, the sophomore running back limited last season by an injured groin, had himself a day. He ran for a 25-yard TD early in the third, and he added a career-long 88-yarder early in the fourth. Muschamp said Harris is someone who gets better as the game goes on.
Vanderbilt (0-3, 0-3) remains winless after having 56 scholarship players available for this game, just three above the limit set by the SEC for a team to play a game. Mason said he learned Thursday that his numbers would be limited, a combination of injuries and contact tracing during a pandemic.
KENTUCKY 24, MISSISSIPPI STATE 2
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Terry Wilson threw a second-quarter touchdown, and Chris Rodriguez rushed for another after the first of six interceptions that helped Kentucky beat Mississippi State (1-2, 1-2).
Jordan Wright sealed the hard-earned victory by scoring on an 8-yard interception return with 6:25 remaining for the Wildcats (1-2, 1-2). Kentucky gained just 157 yards but that held up thanks to an aggressive defense that shut out the Bulldogs’ Air Raid offense. Kentucky picked off K.J. Costello four times, the first of which linebacker Josh Paschal jumped perfectly to return 76 yards and set up Rodriguez’s 2-yard TD run that made it 14-0.
Jamin Davis and Jamar Watson picked off Costello in the end zone and Will Rogers at the goal line respectively, and Kelvin Joseph also intercepted Costello.