No. 9 Gators outlast ’Cats, but lose QB to injury
NO. 9 FLORIDA 29, KENTUCKY 21
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kyle Trask relieved an injured Feleipe Franks and rallied No. 9 Florida with three fourth-quarter touchdown drives, including his goahead, 4-yard scoring run with 4:11 remaining that lifted the Gators to a 29-21 victory over Kentucky on Saturday night.
Franks, the Gators’ thirdyear starter, was carted off with a right leg injury late in the third quarter with his team trailing 21-10. Stopped for no gain on fourth and 1 at the Kentucky 38, Franks appeared to bend backward on the play. Medical personnel placed an inflatable cast under his right leg, and he was taken off to applause from the sellout crowd.
Gators Coach Dan Mullen had no immediate update on Franks’ condition but said afterward, “It looked like a dislocation and a break, so he would be out for the year.”
Trask entered and led Florida (3-0, 1-0 SEC) on a 62-yard drive, ending with Lamical Perine’s 8-yard TD run to get the Gators within 21-16. Shawn Davis’ interception with 6:05 to go gave the
Gators another opportunity, and Trask capitalized with his go-ahead touchdown.
The two-point conversion failed, though, and Kentucky (2-1, 0-1) had a final chance to regain the lead. But Chance Poore’s 35-yard field-goal attempt with 54 seconds left was wide right, and Josh Hammond’s 76-yard TD run three plays later helped Florida avenge last year’s loss in Gainesville.
“Still have a long way to go,” Mullen added. “Came on the road and in a very tough environment and got a big win. We found ways to win.”
Sawyer Smith accounted for all three Kentucky touchdowns with scoring passes of 26 and 13 yards sandwiched around his 2-yard run. Making his first Kentucky start a week after Terry Wilson was lost for the season with a torn left patellar tendon, the junior completed his first nine passes for 119 yards. He finished 23-of-35 passing for 267 yards, but also threw 3 interceptions.
“We had an opportunity with a couple of plays, but we fell short,” Kentucky Coach Mark Stoops said.
NO. 2 ALABAMA 47, SOUTH CAROLINA 23
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Tua Tagovailoa threw for a career-high 444 yards and tied his personal best with five touchdowns to help No. 2 Alabama open conference play with a victory over South Carolina.
Coach Nick Saban improved to 12-1 at Alabama in SEC openers and wiped away some bad memories of his last visit to Williams-Brice Stadium nine years ago.
Tagovailoa and his receivers quickly got the Crimson Tide (3-0, 1-0) rolling with first-quarter TD passes of 24 yards to Najee Harris and 81 yards to Henry Ruggs III. Whenever the Gamecocks (1-2, 0-1) drew within range, Tagovailoa came right back to restore Alabama’s edge.
NO. 4 LSU 65, NW (LA.) STATE 14
BATON ROUGE — Joe Burrow completed 21 of 24 passes for 373 yards and two touchdowns, and LSU pulled away from Northwestern State in the second half.
Burrow has played through the third quarter only once in three games because of lopsided scores. He is now 75 of 90 (83.3 percent) passing for 1,122 yards and 11 touchdowns this season.
Burrow also ran for 30 yards and a touchdown against Northwestern State (0-3), an FCS team that was surprisingly competitive in the first half before the Tigers (3-0) dominated the third quarter.
Northwestern State QB Shelton Eppler, who came in averaging 35 completions per game, connected on 21 of 38 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns. Quan Shorts had eight catches for 66 yards and a TD, and David Fitzwater had 68 yards receiving and a score on just three catches.
NO. 8 AUBURN 55, KENT STATE 16
AUBURN, Ala.— JaTarvious Whitlow rushed for 135 yards and two touchdowns, and Bo Nix ran and passed for scores to lead Auburn to a victory over Kent State.
The Tigers (3-0) piled up 467 rushing yards — and three 100-yard rushers — in their final tune up before conference play. They also got some big plays running and passing from Nix, including a 49-yard flea flicker to Eli Stove for a touchdown in the third quarter.
Backup quarterback Joey Gatewood ran for 102 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Shaun Shivers, Auburn’s 5-foot7, 179-pound running back, also gained 102 yards. It was the first time Auburn had three 100-yard rushers in a game since 1983 with a Bo Jackson-led group against Maryland.
NO. 16 TEXAS A&M 62, LAMAR 3
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Freshman Isaiah Spiller ran for 116 yards and two touchdowns, and Kellen Mond threw for 317 yards with a touchdown pass and a run in three quarters to lead Texas A&M to a rout of Lamar.
Spiller shined in the first game since Jashaun Corbin sustained a season-ending hamstring injury last week at Clemson, running for touchdowns of 1 and 34 yards. Mond was 20 of 28 with an interception.
The Aggies (2-1) led 27-0 at halftime but Mond tried to throw in between two defenders on his first drive of the third quarter and was intercepted by Cameron Hayes. But the Cardinals couldn’t get anything going on offense and had to punt.
The Cardinals (2-1), an FCS team in the Southland Conference, were thoroughly overmatched in this one and were outgained 633 to 197 despite most of A&M’s starters sitting down after three quarters. Dual-threat quarterback Jordan Hoy managed just 75 yards passing and 6 yards rushing.
MISSOURI 50, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI ST. 0
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Larry Rountree III had two touchdown runs for Missouri, and the Tigers scored on offense, defense and special teams in the first quarter and cruised to a victory over Southeast Missouri State.
Missouri (2-1) opened a 27-0 first quarter by scoring every which way. Rountree rushed for a 3-yard touchdown, Kelly Bryant floated a 3-yard TD pass to tight end Albert Okwuegbunam, Cale Garrett returned an interception 27 yards for a score and Richaud Floyd scored on a 71-yard punt return.
Rountree finished with 142 yards rushing on 18 carries to help the Tigers pile up a 501-94 edge in total yards. Bryant completed 15 of 20 passes for 225 yards and a touchdown. Jalen Knox caught two passes for 104 yards.
Missouri extended the lead to 37-0 at halftime and 47-0 after three quarters. Tyler Badie carried seven times for 73 yards and a touchdown. Tucker McCann converted field goals of 52, 44 and 42 yards.
Daniel Santacaterina was 7-of-22 passing for 45 yards for the Redhawks (1-2).
KANSAS STATE 31, MISSISSIPPI STATE 24
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Skylar Thompson threw for 123 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown to lead Kansas State over Mississippi State.
It is the first time Kansas State has beaten a Power 5 nonconference team on the road since 2011.
KSU (3-0) led 17-14 at halftime but trailed 24-17 in the fourth quarter. Then a 100-yard Malik Knowles kickoff return tied the game, and a 15-yard touchdown pass from Thompson to Dalton Schoen gave the Wildcats a 7-point lead with 5:37 remaining.
“He lives for those moments,” KSU Coach Chris Klieman said. “He’s prepared for that moment.”
MSU (2-1) drove 55 yards on its final meaningful possession, but ultimately turned the ball over on downs at the Kansas State 20-yard line, one yard short of the first-down marker.
TENNESSEE 45, TENN.-CHATTANOOGA 0
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Jarrett Guarantano threw three touchdown passes and Tennessee rolled to a blowout of Football Championship Subdivision program Tennessee-Chattanooga as the Volunteers began digging their way out of their slowest start in over three decades.
Tennessee (1-2) is trying to bounce back from its first 0-2 start since 1988, when the Vols dropped their first six games before finishing 5-6. The lopsided victory over Chattanooga (1-2) provides Tennessee a momentum boost before the Vols open SEC play next week to begin a grueling monthlong stretch.
Tennessee forced five turnovers and took the suspense out of this one early. The Vols capitalized on Chattanooga’s mistakes to grab a 21-0 lead in the game’s first 6 ½ minutes.
OLE MISS 40, SE LOUISIANA 29
OXFORD, Miss. — Matt Corral threw for two touchdowns and the Mississippi defense made a pair of game-saving stops on downs in the final six minutes as the Rebels defeated Southeastern Louisiana.
Corral finished 21 of 30 for 239 yards and directed a pair of fourth quarter field goal drives that preserved the Ole Miss (2-1) win over the FCS Lions (1-1). Jerrion Ealy added two touchdowns, a 94yard kickoff return and a 30-yard run, to finish with 273 all-purpose yards.