Texas A&M hands Florida another home loss
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Kellen Mond made several huge plays, Daniel LaCamera kicked four field goals and Texas A&M handed Florida a second home loss in as many weeks, 19-17 on Saturday night.
LaCamera's 32-yarder with 58 seconds remaining proved to be the difference, but Mond made everything happen for the Aggies (5-2, 3-1 Southeastern Conference). The freshman completed eight passes for 180 yards, and added 52 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Mond had completions of 40 and 42 yards to set up fourth-quarter field goals, and Christian Kirk returned a punt 43 yards to set up the game-winner.
Florida (3-3, 3-2) had one final chance in its new, alligator-skin uniforms, but Feleipe Franks threw an interception on first down to end any chance of a comeback.
The loss essentially knocked the Gators out of contention in the SEC's Eastern Division race and surely will stoke more questions about the direction of the programs — mostly the offense — in coach Jim McElwain's third season.
Florida dominated in yards (371-263) and first downs (17-10), but came up short on the scoreboard.
The Gators may have been fortunate to score their first touchdown, which came after a bizarre do-over late in the second quarter.
Lamical Perine was seemingly stopped short on a fourth-and-1 play at the Texas A&M 17yard line. But officials supposedly whistled the play dead before the snap. So Perine got another shot, picked up the first down and then scored on the next play against the stunned Aggies.
Perine made three defenders miss and then carried a fourth into the end zone for a 15yard touchdown and a 10-3 lead.
Texas A&M tied the game on the opening possession of the second half. Mond completed a 30-yard pass to Camron Buckley to start the drive and capped it with a 9-yard run on a third-andgoal draw play that caught the Gators off guard.
The Gators responded two series later, thanks mostly to Franks' 79-yard run in which five tackles failed to bring him down. Franks zigzagged his way across the field before getting brought down at the 13-yard line. A sideline infraction penalty moved the ball to the 6, and Dre Massey scored on a jet sweep on the first play of the fourth quarter.
But the Aggies controlled the final frame.
Alabama 41, Arkansas 9
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Damien Harris opened with a 75-yard touchdown run and No. 1 Alabama rode a fast start to a victory over Arkansas.
The Crimson Tide (7-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) had raced to a 17-0 start by midway through the first quarter before the Razorbacks (2-4, 0-3) managed to slow down the onslaught for a while.
Harris ran for 125 yards and two touchdowns on just nine carries. His run on the game's first offensive play matched his career long set last week at Texas A&M, putting the Tide in front just 15 seconds into the game.
South Carolina 15, Tennessee 9
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — South Carolina made sure Tennessee's apparent allergy to the end zone continued for one more week.
Parker White made all three of his fieldgoal attempts, including a tiebreaking 21-yarder with 5:17 remaining, and South Carolina produced a goal-line stand Saturday in the closing seconds of a victory over the slumping Volunteers.
This marks the second straight week the Gamecocks have won as an underdog. Last week, South Carolina's defense scored three touchdowns in a 48-22 triumph over Arkansas.
South Carolina (5-2, 3-2 SEC) didn't force any turnovers Saturday, but its defense came up big when it mattered most as the Gamecocks erased a 9-3 halftime deficit.
Tennessee (3-3, 0-3 SEC) also settled for field goals after having first-and-goal on two separate drives in the first half. The Vols haven't scored a touchdown in their last 10 quarters.
Georgia 53, Missouri 28
ATHENS, Ga. — Sony Michel ran for two touchdowns as No. 4 Georgia found its running game after a slow start and took control with 26 unanswered points to beat Missouri.
Georgia (7-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) recovered from an early scare by gaining 696 total yards, including 370 on the ground. Missouri (15, 0-4) suffered its fifth straight loss as it faded following a 21-all tie in the second quarter.