Kentucky leaves Missouri with win

KENTUCKY 21, MISSOURI 17

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Amid a contest in which the defenses for Kentucky and Missouri flexed their muscles most of the afternoon, it was a botched punt snap that proved the difference for the Wildcats in escaping with a 21-17 victory over the Tigers on Saturday.

Incredibly, it was the Wildcats (6-3, 3-3 SEC) who benefited from their own special team’s misfire, staking claim to a win making them bowl-eligible.

Lining up for a punt on fourth-and-4 from their own 41 with 2:34 left, Kentucky long snapper Drew Perry sailed the snap over the head of punter Colin Goodfellow, who chased the loose ball down at the 4. Goodfellow managed to turn back upfield and boot the ball away just as he was tackled by Missouri linebacker Will Norris.

A flag immediately came out and after a discussion the officials penalized Norris for roughing the punter, determining that Goodfellow had remained within the tackle box and by resuming a punting motion had maintained the protection of a punter. Goodfellow was injured on the play and was carted off the field.

The play enabled Kentucky to run all but 38 seconds off the clock.

“It was just a remarkable play by him,” Kentucky Coach Mark Stoops said. “At first I was like, ‘Well, I wish he would have taken the safety.’ But he made a remarkable play.”

Tigers Coach Eli Drinkwitz didn’t agree with the explanation he received from the officials but said the play wasn’t ultimately what doomed the Tigers (4-5, 2-4).

“How a guy can still be a protected punter 50 yards down the field and how are guys supposed to know that he can’t tackle him is beyond me,” Drinkwitz said, “But I’m sure I’ll get an explanation and I’m sure it will defend them, and we’ll go from there. It doesn’t change the fact that we were 2 of 13 on third downs.”

After Kentucky held Missouri to minus-7 yards on the first possession of the game, Will Levis put the Wildcats on the board with an eightplay, 71-yard drive capped off by 9-yard touchdown pass on third-and-goal to Dane Key.

Missouri mustered just 76 yards of offense in the first half. Only a 44-yard field goal from Harrison Mevis put the Tigers on the scoreboard, and the Wildcats took a 7-3 lead to the locker room at halftime.

The Wildcats rode Christopher Rodriguez Jr., who finished with 112 yards on 29 carries, on five straight rushes to the Missouri 19-yard line before Levis struck again on third down. Facing third-and-5, Levis connected with Tayvion Robinson for 18 yards. Two plays later, Levis found tight end Jordan Dingle for a 1-yard score to extend the lead to 14-3.

Tigers quarterback Brady Cook and the Missouri offense started finding their rhythm late in the third quarter. Cook led back-to-back scoring drives of 52 and 64 yards, completing 6 of 7 passes for 80 yards and rushing for two touchdowns. A two-point conversion throw from Cook to Tauskie Dove gave the Tigers their first lead of the game at 17-14 with 8:07 remaining to play.

FLORIDA 41, TEXAS A&M 24

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Anthony Richardson threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 78 yards and two scores as Florida snapped its two-game losing streak with a win over Texas A&M.

Richardson had touchdown runs of 10 and 60 yards in the first quarter and connected with Ja’Quavion Fraziars and Caleb Douglas on touchdown passes of 19 and 12 yards, respectively, in the third quarter as the Gators (5-4, 2-4 SEC) opened up a 34-24 lead.

Montrell Johnson Jr. rushed 22 times for 100 yards and a touchdown, Trevor Etienne rushed for 80 yards on 17 carries, and Ricky Pearsall had three catches for 65 yards as the Gators racked up 492 yards, including 291 rushing yards.

Devon Achane rushed for 122 yards and two touchdowns and caught another score for the Aggies (3-6, 1-5), who went into halftime up 24-20.

SOUTH CAROLINA 38, VANDERBILT 27

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Spencer Rattler threw three touchdown passes and South Carolina became bowl-eligible with a win over Vanderbilt.

Rattler threw scoring passes of 29 yards to Xavier Legette, 19 yards to Josh Vann and 17 yards to Antwane Wells.

The Gamecocks (6-3, 3-3 SEC) won their 14th straight game over the Commodores (3-6, 0-5).

South Carolina built a commanding 31- 14 halftime lead and handed Vanderbilt its fifth straight loss.

Ray Davis rushed for a career-high 167 yards for the Commodores.

MISSISSIPPI STATE 39, AUBURN 33, OT

STARKVILLE, Miss — Jo’Quavious Marks ran for a 6 yard touchdown in overtime and Mississippi State beat Auburn in the Tigers’ first game since the firing of Coach Bryan Harsin.

The Bulldogs (7-3, 4-3 SEC) blew a 24-3 lead and watched as the Tigers (3-7, 1-6) outscored them 27-6 in the second half.

But Mississippi State wound up handing Auburn its fifth consecutive loss, this time under interim coach and former Tigers running back Carnell Williams.

Auburn’s Anders Carlson pushed a 38-yard field goal attempt wide right to start overtime. Then the Bulldogs capitalized on freshman J.D. Rhym’s pass interference on a deep ball to set up Marks’ winning score.