Second-quarter burst propels Ole Miss

OXFORD, Miss. — Jaxson Dart and Quinshon Judkins accounted for four touchdowns in the second quarter as No. 16 Ole Miss rallied from an early deficit to beat Tulsa 35-27 on Saturday.

Ole Miss (4-0) trailed for the first time this season, 14-7 before the decisive 28-point outburst. Dart threw 31-yard touchdown passes to Malik Heath and Jonathan Mingo, and Judkins had scoring runs of 1 and 4 yards to complete the rally and build a 35-14 cushion.

“The bottom line is we are 4-0 and that’s the best you can be,” Mississippi Coach Lane Kiffin said. “It’s a lot better than being 2-2 which is what a lot of people around the country are right now.”

Dart directed consecutive scoring drives of 75, 64, 93 and 46 yards in the quarter and finished 13 of 24 passing with 154 yards, adding 116 yards rushing on 13 carries. The Rebels had 462 yards of total offense, highlighted by 140 yards rushing on 27 carries by Judkins.

“We harp on consistency and we really executed at a high level in the second quarter,” Dart said. “We’re a talented team but we’ve got to make the next step in consistency because in the second half, we shot ourselves in the foot.”

Tulsa (2-2) was led by Davis Brin, throwing for a 20yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Epps and adding a 1-yard touchdown run. Brin was 7 of 13 passing for 112 yards before exiting with an injury in the second quarter. However, he remained on the sideline in uniform in the second half.

“We had adversity and fought through it,” Tulsa Coach Philip Montgomery said. “We gave ourselves a chance to win it late.”

Braylon Braxton replaced Brin to finish 9 of 22 passing for 83 yards, including a 17yard touchdown pass to Epps to pull Tulsa to 35-27 in the fourth quarter. The Golden Hurricane, despite 457 yards of total offense, did not cross midfield on their final three possessions.

“The defense stopped them on the last few drives and that was big,” Kiffin said. “But we got shut out in the second half on offense and it’s clear we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

NO. 1 GEORGIA 39, KENT STATE 22

ATHENS, Ga. — Brock Bowers scored two more touchdowns and Georgia survived a sloppy performance and surprisingly gritty effort from Kent State.

The Bulldogs (4-0) turned it over three times, struggled in the red zone, were burned on a fake punt and gave up several big plays to Kent State (1-3) in what was easily their worst performance of the season.

Kent State had a chance to make it a one-score game with less than 13 minutes remaining after Marquez Cooper scored on a 1-yard run to cap a 12-play, 75-yard drive. But a two-point conversion failed, leaving the Bulldogs with a 32-22 lead. Georgia then finished off the Golden Flashes, driving 75 yards for Kendall Milton’s 1-yard plunge on

1 fourth-and-goal with 5 /2 minutes to go.

NO. 2 ALABAMA 55, VANDERBILT 3

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Bryce Young passed for a season-high 385 yards and four touchdowns and Alabama beat Vanderbilt.

It was the first 300-yard game of the season for the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, who didn’t play in the fourth quarter and completed 25 of 36 passes.

The Crimson Tide (4-0, 1-0) opted to air it out against the Commodores (3-2, 0-1) and finally got big games and plays from multiple receivers. It was the most passing yards for Young since perhaps locking up the Heisman with 421 yards against Georgia in the SEC championship game.

Alabama outgained Vandy 628-129 in total yards.

NO. 8 KENTUCKY 31, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 23

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky’s Will Levis tied a career best with four touchdown passes, including critical scores of 70 and 40 yards to Barion Brown and Tayvion Robinson, after halftime to hold off Northern Illinois.

After allowing the pesky Huskies a tying touchdown seconds before halftime, Levis put the Wildcats (4-0) ahead 2114 just 58 seconds into the third quarter by hitting Brown across the middle on third and 10.

Matt Ruffolo’s 49-yard field goal later in the third provided a 10-point cushion. Levis overcame five sacks to complete 18 of 26 passes for 303 yards, his third 300-yard effort this season.

LSU 38, NEW MEXICO 0

BATON ROUGE — The LSU defense held New Mexico to 88 total yards.

While the defense helped propel the Tigers to their first shutout victory since 2018, LSU did see its starting quarterback Jayden Daniels exit the game in the third quarter with an injury.

Scrambling for 16 yards on a fourthdown play, Daniels was slammed down to the ground by AJ Haulcy and Dion Hunter. He didn’t return to the game.

Before exiting the game, Daniels had one of his most efficient games thus far, completing 24 of 29 passes for 279 yards.

MISSISSIPPI STATE 45, BOWLING GREEN 14

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Will Rogers threw for 406 yards and tied a school record with six touchdown passes as Mississippi State bounced back from a loss with a win over Bowling Green.

After having a more balanced attack than normal for most of the first two games, the Air Raid returned for Mike Leach’s team against the Falcons. Rogers was 38-of-49 passing, finding 12 different receivers.

Bowling Green was without starting quarterback Matt McDonald, who was out for an unspecified reason. In his place, Camden Orth went 17-of-28 for 172 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception.

SOUTH CAROLINA 56, UNC-CHARLOTTE 20

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Marshawn Lloyd ran for a career-high 169 yards and three touchdowns as South Carolina scored on its first eight possessions to put away North Carolina-Charlotte.

The win ended a two-game losing streak for the Gamecocks (2-2) — and was a welcome performance for an offense stuck near the bottom of the SEC this season.