Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Aggies finish strong to top Tigers
NO. 5 TEXAS A&M 31, AUBURN 20
AUBURN, Ala. — Texas A&M looked every bit the playoff contender with a seemingly unstoppable offense and impenetrable defense — in the fourth quarter, at least.
And that was plenty. Kellen Mond passed for two touchdowns and ran for a third and the fifth-ranked Aggies scored 17 points in the fourth quarter of a comefrom-behind 31-20 victory over Auburn on Saturday.
The Aggies (7-1) dominated the final quarter to win their sixth consecutive game and remain in College Football Playoff contention. The Tigers (5-4), who have gone 0-3 against teams ranked in the top five at the time, led 20-14 entering the fourth quarter.
Texas A&M Coach Jimbo Fisher wasn’t interested in speculating on how the win might affect his team’s playoff chances.
“That’s for y’all to judge,” Fisher told reporters. “I’m glad we’re winning, I’m glad we’re playing. I don’t’ really care. We’ll evaluate everything at the end of the year.”
Mond rebounded from his worst game of the season against LSU with a strong performance. He completed 18 of 23 for 196 yards, highlighted by two TDs to Jalen Wydermyer, and ran for 60 yards.
“Down in the second half and in the fourth quarter, having the ability to keep your poise and still maintain that level of composure was big-time for our offense,” said Mond, whose third-and-9 run kept the Aggies’ final drive alive.
Seth Small iced the game with a 32-yard field goal with just over a minute remaining after an earlier miss had helped Auburn remain within a score. It’s the most league victories the Aggies have had since joining the SEC in 2012.
“That’s a big-time kick coming back after missing a kick there,” Fisher said.
Isaiah Spiller had his fifth 100-yard game of the current winning streak, gaining 120 on 20 carries. Devon Achane also ran for 99 yards on just nine carries. Wydermyer caught eight passes for 89 yards.
The Aggies took a 21-20 lead early in the fourth quarter when Auburn linebacker Zakoby McClain tipped the ball into the arms of tight end Wydermyer for a touchdown — instead of what could have been a game-changing interception.
“I didn’t see the dude until the ball got there,” Wydermyer said. “I saw it go right through his hands. I was like, ‘Oh, I’ll take that.’ ”
Auburn Coach Gus Malzahn said he thought for a moment that McClain had an interception. “So it went from one extreme to the other,” Malzahn said.
Then Ainias Smith followed his 37-yard catch with a 4-yard run into the end zone. Auburn couldn’t muster any late offense or defensive stops after winning the past three meetings.
Bo Nix, who passed for 144 yards and ran for 49, had a highlight reel play on one of his two touchdown runs for Auburn, but also overthrew a wide-open Eli Stove in the end zone.
After a 28-yard completion and a 20-yard scramble, Nix escaped the grasp of 325-pound defensive tackle Bobby Brown and appeared about to go down. Then he scrambled left and barreled into the end zone.
Both quarterbacks ran for touchdowns late in the second quarter, but Mond struck last on a quarterback sneak with 24 seconds left for a 1410 halftime lead.
The Aggies ran for a season-high 313 yards and held a 16-minute advantage in time of possession.
“It was pretty simple,” Malzahn said. “We couldn’t stop them.”
NO. 1 ALABAMA 55, LSU 17
BATON ROUGE, La. — Mac Jones passed for 385 yards and four touchdowns and No. 1 Alabama used a slew of explosive plays to run away from LSU.
Jones threw three of his touchdown passes to Louisiana native DeVonta Smith, who finished with eight catches for 231 yards in his return to his home state.
Smith’s first two touchdowns went for 65 and 61 yards to cap three-play, 75yard drives for Alabama (9-0). But his third touchdown catch from 20-yards out appeared to be his most difficult. He shed close coverage from top LSU cornerback Derrick Stingley Jr. and made a twisting, leaping catch high over his head before landing on his back deep in the end zone.
Najee Harris rushed for 145 yards and 3 touchdowns on 21 carries, juking, shedding and even leaping over LSU defenders along the way.
LSU (3-5) showed signs of life in the second quarter, scoring on a pair of long plays.
One nearly didn’t happen when receiver Kayshon Bouttee caught a 43-yard pass and released the ball in celebration just before crossing the goal line. Luckily for LSU, Jontre Kirkland was following the play and picked the ball up in the end zone to complete LSU’s first scoring play against Alabama in Tiger Stadium since 2014.
Later, John Emery Jr. ran for a 54-yard touchdown, the longest run allowed by Alabama this season. Each score pulled LSU as close as two touchdowns, but the Tide answered each with the two deep connections between Jones and Smith.
Jones had 338 yards and four TDs passing by halftime, when Smith had seven catches for 219 yards. Smith’s third TD gave the Crimson Tide a 45-14 lead by halftime.
NO. 6 FLORIDA 31, TENNESSEE 19
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Kyle Trask threw for 433 yards and four touchdowns, and No. 6 Florida beat Tennessee to clinch a spot in the SEC championship game.
Trask, a front-runner for the Heisman Trophy, put together another impressive performance. He completed 35 of 49 passes without committing a turnover. He even had a 32-yard punt late in the game.
Kyle Pitts had seven receptions for 128 yards, helping the Gators (8-1) wrap up the SEC’s East Division. Kadarius Toney finished with eight catches for 108 yards and a TD.
The aerial performance by Trask and company took on added significance with Florida struggling to run the ball, finishing with just 21 yards on the ground.
Playing with a depleted roster, Tennessee (2-6) dropped its sixth consecutive game. The Vols were missing 16 players.
Freshman Harrison Bailey got the start at quarterback. He completed 14 of 21 passes for 111 yards and a 15yard touchdown to Eric Gray. He was sacked five times.
Trask has 38 TD passes this season, moving him into sixth place in SEC history for a single season, ahead of Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel and Tim Couch of Kentucky. He has the most TD passes through a team’s first nine games.
Five plays into the second half, the outcome was all but decided. Florida stretched a 10-point halftime advantage to 24-7 with a 75-yard drive capped by an 8-yard pass from Trask to Trevon Grimes. The big play in the sequence was a 48-yard connection between Trask and Kyle Pitts.
Early in the fourth quarter, Florida upped the lead to 31-7 when Trask found Jacob Copeland for a 12-yard TD.
Quarterback J.T. Shrout came off the bench to lead the Vols to two late touchdowns. Ty Chandler ran the ball in from 7 yards, then Velus Jones, Jr., caught a 22-yard scoring pass.
KENTUCKY 41, SOUTH CAROLINA 18
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Chris Rodriguez Jr. rushed for three touchdowns, Terry Wilson and A.J. Rose each rushed for one, and Kentucky rolled South Carolina in the regular season finale for both schools.
Looking to halt a two-game slide and remain in consideration for the postseason, the Wildcats (4-6) scored on five of their first seven possessions to lead 27-3 at halftime. Their highest firsthalf output this season was aided by 10 points off two of their three takeaways, including two fumble recoveries by Jordan Wright.
Rodriguez returned from a two-game absence to rush for first-half TDs of 1 and 2 yards around Rose’s 8-yard score before sealing the rout with a 79-yard burst down the left side with 4:56 remaining. Wilson added a 1-yard TD run early in the third quarter as the Wildcats outgained the Gamecocks (28) 492-404.
Wilson, the senior quarterback, finished 17 of 26 passing for 201 yards and rushed for 46 to break 1,000 career. Rodriguez had 139 yards on 14 carries and Rose 101 on 14 carries as Kentucky dealt South Carolina its sixth consecutive loss.