Vols swamp Gators in second half, win 38-28

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Joshua Dobbs accounted for five second-half touchdowns Saturday and No. 14 Tennessee erased a 21-point deficit to beat No. 19 Florida 38-28 and end their 11-game losing streak in the annual series.

This marks the first time Tennessee (4-0, 1-0 SEC) has beaten Florida (3-1, 1-1) since a 30-28 victory in 2004. The Volunteers had lost to Florida by a single point each of the last two years despite leading in the fourth quarter of both games.

This time, Tennessee delivered the comeback by scoring 38 consecutive points.

Dobbs threw four touchdown passes and ran for a fifth score — all in the second half. He went 16 of 32 for 319 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions. Dobbs also rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown.

Trailing 21-0 early against the nation’s topranked defense, Tennessee stormed back and took a 24-21 lead with 12:45 left on Dobbs’ 67yard completion to a wide-open Jauan Jennings, who bobbled the ball a few times near the right sideline before making the catch while staying inbounds.

After Todd Kelly Jr. intercepted an Austin Appleby pass on Florida’s next possession, Dobbs connected with Josh Malone on a 42-yard touchdown with 11:48 remaining. Dobbs added a 5-yard touchdown run with 8:27 left to make it 38-21.

Appleby was starting in place of Luke Del Rio, who injured his left knee last week in a 32-0 rout of North Texas.

Florida took an early 21-0 advantage on a pair of Appleby touchdown passes and a 1-yard run by Jordan Scarlett. Both Appleby touchdown passes were set up by long completions from Appleby to Antonio Callaway. The Gators led 21-3 at halftime.

Twice in the first half, Tennessee got inside Florida’s 5-yard line and failed to score.

* Perhaps the Gators’ defense isn’t quite as good as its statistics suggested. A defense that had been allowing just 4.7 points and 129.7 yards per game couldn’t keep Tennessee’s offense out of the end zone in the second half. Of course, that defense didn’t get any help from an offense that disappeared during Tennessee’s comeback.

The Gators’ second-half collapse will raise questions about their ability to handle adversity.

* Dobbs’ second-half performance answered questions about his accuracy and Tennessee’s downfield passing attack.

After going 7 of 20 for 84 yards with an interception in the first half, Dobbs was 9 of 12 for 235 yards and four touchdowns and an interception the rest of the way. His second-half interception came on Tennessee’s first series of the third quarter. After that turnover, Dobbs led Tennessee into the end zone on five of its next six drives.

No. 23 Ole Miss 45 No. 12 Georgia 14

OXFORD, Miss. — Chad Kelly threw for 282 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score to lead No. 23 Mississippi over No. 12 Georgia.

The Rebels (2-2, 1-1 SEC) dominated every phase of the game, building a lead of 31-0 by halftime and 45-0 by midway through the third quarter.

Ole Miss broke a 10-game losing streak in the series dating to 1996.

“I can’t think of a time in my lifetime where a team has done that to Georgia,” said Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze.

Georgia (3-1, 1-1) lost its first game under new coach Kirby Smart and looked overmatched. To make matters worse, star running back Nick Chubb injured an ankle in the second quarter and didn’t return.

It was an impressive win for the Rebels, who finally built a big lead they didn’t give away. Ole Miss led Florida State by 22 points and Alabama by 21 this season before losing both games.

“We’ve certainly had experiences that we

should have learned Freeze said.

Kelly was sharp from the opening series, completing 18 of 24 passes and adding a 41-yard touchdown run right through the middle of the Georgia defense. Tight end Evan Engram led the Rebels with six catches for 95 yards.

“When we get in a rhythm, it’s hard for people to stop us,” Engram said.

Brian Herrien led the Bulldogs with 78 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Freshman quarterback Jacob Eason had a tough day, completing just 16 of 36 passes for 137 yards and an interception.

No. 1 Alabama 48 Kent State 0

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama didn’t miss a beat after tailback Damien Harris went down a couple of minutes into the game.

The youngsters made sure of it.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts completed the opening drive with a 20-yard touchdown run and fellow freshman Joshua Jacobs scored his first two career touchdowns in the top-ranked Crimson Tide’s win over Kent State.

The Tide (4-0) dominated coach Nick Saban’s alma mater from the start while scoring on a kickoff return and even a short touchdown throw to linebacker/short-yardage blocker Mack Wilson — yet another freshman. The only bad news for Alabama was Harris sprained his right ankle on the opening drive and didn’t return.

He was hardly needed in this game, when No. 2 quarterback Blake Barnett played much of the way and the emerging Jacobs ran for 97 yards. It amounted to a Saturday-afternoon respite for the Tide after a bruising 48-43 comeback win over No. 23 Mississippi.

“The goal going into this game was to play a complete game, start fast, finish, and I think we probably did that as well as we’ve done all year,” Saban said.

Hurts was 16-of-24 passing for 164 yards and ran for 54 yards while splitting time with Barnett. He found Wilson for a 1-yard third-quarter score that was supposed to go to tight end O.J. Howard.

“It’s his first career (touchdown), so I can’t be mad about that,” Howard said. “I’m happy somebody caught it.”

He did catch a 34-yarder from Barnett, who first got into the game early in the second quarter. Saban said Harris is “day to day” and his status is uncertain against Kentucky. The Kentucky native came into the game ranked fifth in the Southeastern Conference with 327 yards.

“It’s just tough to see a player who means so much to our offense go down,” Howard said.

Mississippi State 47 Massachusetts 35

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Aeris Williams ran for a 16yard touchdown and Jamoral Graham returned an interception 38 yards for a score on the next play from scrimmage to help Mississippi State erase a third-quarter deficit and beat Massachusetts.

The two scores 17 seconds apart were followed four minutes later by a 13-yard touchdown pass from Nick Fitzgerald to Farrod Green that made it 41-21 just before the end of the third quarter.

Fitzgerald completed 25 of 38 passes for 299 yards and three touchdowns, and he also ran for 110 yards for the Bulldogs (2-2). Fred Ross caught eight passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns for Mississippi State, which once again struggled to play well for two halves in a row.

Andrew Ford, making his second start for the injured Ross Comis, completed 24 of 40 passes for 273 yards and four touchdowns for UMass (1-3). But he also overthrew his receiver on the first play after Mississippi State’s go-ahead touchdown, and Graham was there to make it 34-21.

Missouri 79 Delaware State 0

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Drew Lock threw a school record-tying five touchdown passes, and Missouri shattered its school scoring record, dismantling Delaware State.

The previous record of 69 points has occurred three times, most recently on Sept. 17, 2011, when the Tigers shut out Western Illinois.

Lock completed 26 of 36 pass attempts for 402 yards.

The Tigers (2-2, 0-1 SEC) led 58-0 at halftime, resulting in a shortened second half. The third and fourth quarters were reduced from 15 minutes to 10.

Delaware State (0-3) managed just 140 yards of offense, 133 of which came in the first half. Mike Waters rushed seven times for 31 yards and Brycen Alleyne had nine carries for 21 yards.