LSU stuns Florida with late field goal
LSU 37, NO. 6 FLORIDA 34
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Kyle Trask and No. 6 Florida look nowhere near ready for top-ranked Alabama.
Max Johnson threw three touchdown passes in his first college start, Cade York kicked a 57-yard field goal with 23 seconds remaining and reigning national champion LSU stunned the Gators 37-34 on a cool and foggy Saturday night in the Swamp.
York drilled his kick through the dense fog and the uprights after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Florida senior Marco Wilson, who threw an opponent’s shoe. Wilson tossed it after a third-down stop that would have forced LSU to punt. Instead, the Tigers got a first down and then moved into York’s range.
The Gators (8-2) had a final shot, and Trask got them in position to tie. But Evan McPherson was wide left from 51 yards on the final play. LSU (4-5) celebrated wildly all over the field.
“We had an easier one than they did. We just missed it,” Florida Coach Dan Mullen said.
Johnson had a lot to do with the outcome. The son of former Super Bowl champion Brad Johnson repeatedly torched Florida’s beleaguered defense. He threw for 239 yards, nearly half of them (108) to Kayshon Boutte, and ran for 52 more.
“Boy, his confidence was incredible,” LSU Coach Ed Orgeron said. “I think Max is going to be a championship quarterback. … Also proud of our young football team.”
Johnson got a hug and a kiss on top of his head from his father, who walked down to the first row and leaned over the wall to reach his son. Teammates were still dancing and screaming all around.
“So proud, man,” Orgeron said. “They fought. They gave everything. We said last night, ‘We’re going to give everything we possibly can for the LSU Tigers.’ I’m so proud of this team, the players and the coaching staff.”
Florida didn’t help itself with three turnovers in the first half that led to 10 points and a 24-17 deficit at the break.
“You can’t win doing what we did tonight, no matter what’s going on and who you’re playing,” Mullen said. “Minus-three turnover ratio, we don’t score touchdowns in the red zone, we can’t make key stops when we need to defensively and we lose the special teams part of the game.”
Trask accounted for four touchdowns and three turnovers, first putting his teammates in a hole and then helping them climb out of it. But he was unable to rally the Gators when it mattered.
NO. 9 GEORGIA 49, MISSOURI 14
COLUMBIA, Mo. — JT Daniels threw three touchdown passes, two of them to George Pickens as No. 9 Georgia broke away from Missouri.
Zamir White ran for 126 yards and a score while Georgia (7-2) dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Missouri (5-4) managed just 200 yards of offense after topping the 600yard mark each of the past two weeks.
The game was tied at 14 when Pickens reached to his shoe tops to gather in a 36-yard touchdown toss from Daniels in the final minute of the first half. The pair connected again on the first drive of the second half, with Pickens catching a short pass on a slant route, stepping out of a tackle attempt and racing 31 yards for a score.
Daniels completed 16 of 27 passes for 299 yards. Pickens caught 5 passes for 126 yards and James Cook caught a TD pass and ran for a score.
Missouri’s Mason Pack blocked a punt deep in Georgia territory to set up Larry Rountree’s 1-yard touchdown run that made it 14-all with 1:20 left in the second quarter.
Connor Bazelak completed 17 of 28 passes for 139 yards and ran for the Tigers’ other score.
AUBURN 24, MISSISSIPPI STATE 10
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Bo Nix threw for one touchdown and ran for another to lead Auburn to a victory over Mississippi State in its final regular season game of the year.
Auburn (6-4) put only field goals on the board in each of the game’s first three quarters, but Nix connected with Seth Williams early in the fourth to give the Tigers a 16-3 lead, then scrabbled 3 yards to score again on the next possession.
Mississippi State (2-7) managed just 240 yards of total offense and did not score its only touchdown of the game until midway through the fourth quarter.
Most of the Tigers’ 345 yards of offense came from the ground. Tank Bigsby rushed for 192 yards and Nix added another 24 yards. Nix was 15 of 32 for 125 yards.
Will Rogers was 30 of 51 for 221 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions to lead Mississippi State.
TENNESSEE 42, VANDERBILT 17
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Sarah Fuller kicked two extra points Saturday to become the first woman to score in a Power 5 conference game, finally getting the chance to do more than squib a kickoff for Vanderbilt during a loss to Tennessee.
Fuller cleanly converted both of her kicks, to the cheers of her teammates and family.
Fuller made history Nov. 28 as the first woman to play in a Power 5 game.
With Vanderbilt (0-9) getting the chance to play after postponing last week’s game at Georgia, the Commodores also gave the goalkeeper for the SEC women’s soccer tournament champs an opportunity to put up points.
Fuller, listed second out of three available kickers on the depth chart, came out for the extra point that tied the game at 7-7 with 1:50 left in the first quarter.
The 6-2 senior put the ball through the uprights and celebrated by pulling her fist in before slapping high-fives with teammates. She ran off the field with a big smile. She got another chance with 7:22 left in the fourth quarter at the other end of the field and kicked the ball through.
Vanderbilt lost its 13th consecutive SEC game, its longest skid since dropping 23 in a row between 2000 and 2003.
Tennessee (3-6) left with the victory with Harrison Bailey and J.T. Shrout throwing for two touchdowns apiece.