Perine’s long run tames Tigers
NO. 10 FLORIDA 24, NO. 7 AUBURN 13
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Lamical Perine was too slow to play for Auburn three years ago, a hurtful evaluation that’s stuck with him.
He showed plenty of speed while running away from the Tigers — and a few guys he played against in high school — in the Swamp on Saturday.
Perine broke loose for an 88-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, Florida’s defense delivered another gem and the No. 10 Gators beat No. 7 Auburn 24-13 in a matchup of unbeaten SEC teams.
Perine broke linebacker K.J. Britt’s tackle at the line of scrimmage and scampered down the sideline for the program’s longest TD run in more than 30 years. It gave the Gators (6-0, 3-0) extra breathing room in a game they never trailed.
Doing it against Auburn was extra special.
“Almost brought tears to my eyes,” said Perine, whose run was the longest for Florida since Emmitt Smith’s 96-yarder against Mississippi State in 1988.
Perine finished with a career-high 130 yards on 14 carries and had Smith waiting to congratulate him afterward.
The junior from Theodore, Ala., closed out the upset. But Florida’s defense really carried the team.
Jon Greenard and David Reese were the stars of the show for Florida, which has given up a measly 16 points in four home games this season.
The Gators kept JaTarvious Whitlow in check and harassed freshman quarterback Bo Nix, whose father, Patrick, upset top-ranked Florida in Gainesville in 1994.
“That’s the kind of defense we expect to play around here,” Florida Coach Dan Mullen said.
Auburn (5-1, 2-1) finished with 269 yards — the ninth-fewest in Coach Gus Malzahn’s seven seasons — and converted just 2 of 14 third-down tries. The Tigers also had four turnovers and six three-and-outs.
“We just didn’t get it done offensively,” Malzahn said. “That starts with me. I’ve got to do a better job of having our guys ready. … Any time you turn the ball over four times on the road, you’re going to have a tough time winning.”
Nix completed 11 of 27 passes for 145 yards, with a touchdown and three interceptions — his first turnovers since the season opener. He was sacked twice, once for a 22-yard loss in which he looked completely lost.
NO. 5 LSU 42, UTAH STATE 6
BATON ROUGE, La. — Joe Burrow became the first LSU quarterback to eclipse 300 yards passing in four consecutive games and threw for five touchdowns against Utah State.
Burrow completed 27 of 38 passes for 344 yards and was intercepted once on a tipped pass before being replaced by Myles Brennan in the fourth quarter. Burrow also rushed for 42 yards and a touchdown. He has completed 78.3% of his passes for 1,864 yards and 22 touchdowns through five games.
Justin Jefferson caught two scoring passes for LSU (5-0). His second TD on a 39-yard throw was the completion on which Burrow surpassed 300 yards. Burrow’s other TD strikes went to Derrick Dillon, JaMarr Chase and tight end Thaddeus Moss.
The Aggies (3-2) had 159 yards of offense.
MISSOURI 42, TROY 10
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Kelly Bryant’s last throw of the game was a 6-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Knox late in the first half of Missouri’s victory over Troy. The Tigers (4-1) hope it isn’t the last pass of Bryant’s college career.
After he released the throw, Bryant was hit low from behind by Troy defensive tackle Travis Sailo and immediately clutched his left knee. Sailo was penalized for a personal foul on the play. The senior quarterback, a transfer from Clemson, eventually walked to the locker room but didn’t return to the game or the sideline. Missouri didn’t immediately specify the diagnosis other than calling it a left leg injury.
Bryant completed 12 of 19 passes for 221 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another touchdown. Sophomore Taylor Powell (Fayetteville) took over at quarterback in the second half and completed 6 of 8 passes for 57 yards but didn’t guide the Tigers to any points. Jonathan Nance and Albert Okwuegbunam joined Knox with touchdown catches, and Larry Rountree III rushed for a touchdown.
The Tigers, who entered the game ranked third nationally in total defense, held Troy (2-3) to 211 total yards.
NO. 3 GEORGIA 43, TENNESSEE 14
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Jake Fromm threw two touchdown passes, Georgia’s defense delivered a dominant second-half performance and the Bulldogs recovered from a slow start to beat Tennessee.
Georgia (5-0, 2-0) scored the final 33 points to earn its 15th consecutive victory over an Eastern Division opponent. Georgia capped the onslaught when Tae Crowder scored on a 60-yard fumble return with 4:39 left after Eric Stokes sacked Brian Maurer to knock the ball loose.
The Bulldogs haven’t lost to an SEC East team since falling 24-10 to Florida on Oct. 29, 2016.
Fromm went 24 of 29 for 288 yards. Brian Herrien and D’Andre Swift combined to run for 160 yards and each had a 1-yard touchdown run.
Tennessee (1-4, 0-2) has lost its last six matchups with Football Bowl Subdivision teams and is off to its slowest start since 1988, when it dropped its first six games. Tennessee’s lone win this season was a 45-0 blowout of Football Championship Subdivision program Chattanooga.
MISSISSIPPI 31, VANDERBILT 6
OXFORD, Miss. — Jerrion Ealy and Snoop Conner each had big touchdown runs in the third quarter to help Mississippi (3-3, 2-1) pull away from Vanderbilt (1-4, 0-3) for a victory on Saturday night.
Ole Miss broke open a precarious 10-6 halftime lead with the scoring runs to open the initial two series of the second half. Ealy ran for a 78-yard touchdown and finished with 97 yards on the ground. Conner had 91 yards rushing that included an 84-yard TD run.
Quarterback John Rhys Plumlee led Ole Miss with 165 yards rushing on 22 carries and scored on a 33-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Scottie Phillips added a 24-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for the Rebels, who finished with 512 yards of total offense that included 413 yards rushing, the highest SEC output since 1979 when the Rebels ran for 443 yards against Vanderbilt.