Florida edges No. 5 LSU, 27-19
GAINESVILLE, Fla.— Lamical Perine scored twice on short runs, including one after a trick play in the fourth quarter, and No. 22 Florida beat fifth-ranked LSU 27-19 Saturday in another nail-biter in the series.
Brad Stewart’s 25-yard interception return for a touchdown—the first pick Joe Burrow has thrown this season—essentially sealed the victory for the Gators (5-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference).
Florida scored all its points after 2007 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow became the sixth player to be inducted into the school’s ring of honor.
With Tebow watching much of the game from the sideline, Florida looked a little like a championship contender.
Perine grinded out tough yards, Florida’s defense was as good as it’s been all season and the difference was another perfect play call by coach Dan Mullen.
A week after beating Mississippi State with a double pass, Feleipe Franks handed off to seldom-used tight end Lucas Krull, slipped around the right end mostly unnoticed and caught a 15-yard pass from Krull that set up Perine’s second score.
The drive was huge for Florida, which had dropped six of the last eight in the series and two in a row in Gainesville. It immediately followed LSU’s go-ahead drive that featured two long runs from Nick Brossettte.
Brossette ran for 79 yards on the drive, including a 2-yard plunge that put the Tigers (5-1, 2-1) up 19-14 with 8:48 to play.
Florida answered, but didn’t put LSU away until Stewart’s interception and then another one on fourth down on the ensuing possession.
South Carolina 37, Missouri 35
COLUMBIA, S.C.— Backup quarterback Michael Scarnecchia threw for three touchdowns in his first college start and Parker White hit the game-winning 33-yard field goal with two seconds left in South Carolina’s 37-35 victory over Missouri on Saturday.
The Tigers (3-2, 0-2 Southeastern Conference) had gone ahead 35-34 on Tucker McCann’s careerlong 57-yard field goal with 1:18 remaining. But the Gamecocks, behind Scarnecchia, drove to the Missouri 16 where White nailed his third go-ahead field goal of the game.
The Gamecocks (3-2, 2-2) rallied from 23-14 at halftime to win their third straight over Missouri in a game that last more than five hours due to rain and lightning delays.
When White’s kick sailed through, only a few thousand soggy fans remained from the announced crowd of 73,393.
Scarnecchia, a senior, started when Jake Bentley was kept out due to a knee injury suffered last week against Kentucky.
And Scarnecchia did not flinch, connecting on touchdown passes of 5 and 17 yards to Bryan Edwards in the first half and 8 yards to Deebo Samuel in the third quarter.
Ole Miss 70, ULM 21
OXFORD, Miss.—Jordan Ta’amu passed for 374 yards and accounted for five touchdowns as Mississippi opened with nine consecutive touchdown drives in a 70-21 win over Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday.
Ta’amu was 21-of-24 passing, including first-half touchdown passes to A.J. Brown, D.K. Metcalf and DaMarkus Lodge for 20, 62 and 16 yards, respectively. Ta’amu added touchdown runs of 1 and 39 yards, individually accounting for 437 yards of total offense before sitting out the second half.
The Rebels (4-2) scored on drives of 78, 61, 97, 66, 72 and 74 yards to build an insurmountable 49-7 halftime lead.
Scottie Phillips capped drives with scoring runs of 1 and 2 yards to complete a nearly flawless offensive performance in the first half.
Ole Miss freshman quarterback Matt Corral extended the touchdown streak to nine with drives of 75 and 92 yards in the third quarter. Corral passed 11 yards to Phillips before breaking a 61-yard run to cap the opening touchdown series. Corral finished 10-of-10 passing for 143 yards.