Georgia routs Vanderbilt, 45-14

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Nick Chubb ran for two touchdowns and 138 yards, and fifth-ranked Georgia routed Vanderbilt 45-14 Saturday despite missing three players from the Bulldogs’ stingy defense.

Georgia (6-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) continued its best start since 2012 when the Bulldogs reached the SEC championship. The Bulldogs also avenged a 17-16 loss to Vanderbilt last year by beating the Commodores for the 20th time in the past 23 games in this series.

Georgia ran through and over Vanderbilt, piling up 423 yards. Sony Michel added 150 yards and a TD, while Elijah Holyfield scored his first career TD on a 15-yard run. Georgia set the tone on its opening drive, running all seven plays for 83 yards.

“That’s the mentality of this team,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “It’s not really a scoreboard deal. It’s like we really just want to see if we can make the other team quit. And if you can try your best to make them quit and you start seeing the, I guess, the falling in, the pushing, the movement, you know that you’ve got them where you want them.”

Chubb, who became only the eighth running back in SEC history to reach 4,000 yards rushing in his career, credited the offensive line for a strong performance.

“Every play felt like I was getting like 10 yards, and the other guys, too, from watching it,” Chubb said. “And that starts up front.”

Vanderbilt (3-3, 0-3) lost its third straight to wrap up the toughest fourgame stretch in school history against the Commodores’ fourth consecutive ranked opponent.

Injuries kept linebacker Reggie Carter and tackle Trenton Thompson at home for a Georgia defense that came in second in the nation giving up just 9.2 points a game. Starting linebacker Natrez Patrick stayed home after being arrested Thursday night on charges including possession of less than one ounce of marijuana. Carter is Patrick’s backup, so Juwan Taylor started for Patrick.

Smart said Patrick’s situation would be handled internally.

Chubb finished off the opening drive with a 33-yard run that put Georgia ahead to stay. Freshman Jake Fromm, who started his fifth straight game, also tossed a 5-yard TD pass to D’Andre Swift in the second quarter, and Chubb added a 14-yard run late in the first half for a 21-0 lead.

The Bulldogs stretched their scoreless streak to seven quarters and nearly had an eighth before Vanderbilt went 75 yards, with Ralph Webb capping the drive with a 1-yard TD run just before halftime. Those were the first points allowed by Georgia since a field goal by Mississippi State on Sept. 23.

Fromm padded the lead to open the third quarter with his second TD pass, a perfectly thrown 47-yarder to Terry Godwin for a 28-6 lead.

Auburn 44, Mississippi 23

AUBURN, Ala.—Kerryon Johnson rushed for a career-high 204 yards and three touchdowns and No. 12 Auburn beat Mississippi 44-23 on Saturday.

Johnson and the Tigers (5-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) continued a recent tear with their third straight lopsided win over a league team. Johnson, who didn’t play in the fourth quarter, has 11 touchdown runs during that hot streak after missing two games with a right hamstring injury.

“I felt so close to normal that I just couldn’t hide it,” said Johnson, who had a career-high 28 rushes. “In the open field, I was making people miss and I was able to get up to a faster speed than last week. It just felt really good to being normal again.”

The Rebels (2-3, 0-2) endured their second straight blowout in the state a week after losing 66-3 to No. 1 Alabama. This one was much closer, but not competitive.

“This was a game that a lot of teams could have come out and flopped around in the first half, especially with what happened last week with us and them,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “Real proud of our leadership that we answered the bell.”

The Tigers were up 35-3 at halftime before Shea Patterson and Ole Miss managed to whittle down the lead.

Auburn’s Jarrett Stidham completed 14 of 21 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns. That included a screen pass which Ryan Davis took 75 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, the Tigers’ longest offensive play of the season.

Auburn’s Daniel Carlson made three field goals to become the SEC’s career scoring leader with 413 points. Georgia’s Blair Walsh set the old mark of 412 points.

“It’s something I’ll be bragging about until the day I die,” Carlson said.

The Rebels snapped a 10-quarter streak without a touchdown when Patterson hit D.K. Metcalf for a 9-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

Patterson led two more touchdown drives in the fourth. He completed 34 of 51 passes for 346 yards and two touchdowns, both to Metcalf.

“We really made a statement that we wanted to finish the game, whether we win or lose, with a good vibe coming out of the game,” Patterson said. “I think offensively we were rolling. I think we feel a lot better than we did last week coming out of the second half. So we’ll look to build on that momentum.”

LSU 17, Florida 16

GAINESVILLE, Fla.—Danny Etling threw a short touchdown pass in the second half and LSU rebounded from a stunning home loss with a 17-16 victory at No. 21 Florida on Saturday.

The Tigers (4-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) moved the ball well early with jet sweeps and then pounded it between the tackles late, doing just enough to upend the Gators (3-2, 3-1).

The difference was Florida’s usually stout kicking game. Eddy Pineiro missed the first extra point of his career in the third quarter and never got a chance to atone for it. He had made 45 in a row before that.

LSU looked nothing like it did the previous week against Troy, a 24-21 loss that was the program’s first at home against a non-conference opponent since 2000. The Tigers opened up a 14-point lead early in the third on Etling’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Tory Carter.

Florida answered, getting the first of consecutive TD runs by Lamical Perine. Pineiro yanked the extra point left after the second one.

The Gators fell to 13-2 at home under coach Jim McElwain and 10-1 when rushing for more than 150 yards. They also dropped to 9-2 in one-possession games under McElwain.

The Tigers, meanwhile, responded better than most expected after a tumultuous week that included two players-only meetings and another involving the athletic director, the head coach and both coordinators.