Mississippi St. stuns defending champ LSU
BATON ROUGE, La. — K.J. Costello passed for an SEC record 623 yards and five touchdowns in the Mississippi State debut of coach Mike Leach’s “Air Raid” offense, and the Bulldogs knocked off sixth-ranked and defending national champion LSU 44-34 on Saturday.
Costello’s passing yardage in his first game since transferring from Stanford to Starkville, Mississippi, eclipsed the 544 yards Georgia’s Eric Zeier had against Southern Mississippi in 1993 to set the Southeastern Conference record.
And Costello needed most of it to make up for his two interceptions and two lost fumbles, which helped LSU rally to tie the game at 34 before he engineered a pair of scoring drives in the final 10 minutes.
LSU became the first defending national champion to lose its opening game since Michigan in 1998 lost at Notre Dame.
LSU quarterback Myles Brennan intermittently showed promise in his debut as starter in place of 2019 Heisman Trophy winner and 2020 top NFL draft choice Joe Burrow. But Brennan’s 345 yards and three touchdowns passing could not make up for the trouble the Tigers’ inexperienced defense had in new coordinator Bo Pelini’s scheme.
Four of Costello’s touchdown passes covered between 24 and 75 yards. The longest came on Kylin Hill’s catch and run in which the running back slipped safety Todd Harris’ tackle along the sideline to break into the clear. Osirus Mitchell caught touchdown passes of 43 and 24 yards, the second putting the Bulldogs back up by two scores with 3:39 left. Tyrell Shavers caught a 31-yard touchdown pass and Austin Williams had a 9-yard TD catch.
LSU transfer linebacker Jabril Cox, who played at FCS power North Dakota State, scored LSU’s opening touchdown on an interception and 14-yard return.
Terrace Marshall Jr. had touchdown catches of 37 and 33 yards, while freshman tight end Arik Gilbert leaped in front of a defender to turn Brennan’s desperate throw as he was going down into a 2-yard score.
But Brennan often struggled to make quick and decisive reads. He was sacked seven times and the first of his two interceptions came when linebacker Jordan Davis hit the QB’s elbow as he threw. The ball went straight to cornerback Esaias Furdge at the Bulldogs 24.
NO. 4 GEORGIA 37, ARKANSAS 10
Stetson Bennett threw two touchdown passes in the third quarter and Georgia rallied to beat Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark., in the season opener for each school.
Bennett replaced D’Wan Mathis in the second quarter and finished 20 for 29 for 211 yards.
Feleipe Franks was 19 for 36 for 200 yards and a touchdown in his first start for Arkansas, but the Florida transfer also tossed two interceptions. Zamir White rushed for 71 yards and a TD on 13 carries.
NO.5 FLORIDA 51, MISSISSIPPI 35
Kyle Pitts caught four of Kyle Trask’s six touchdown passes and Florida spoiled coach Lane Kiffin’s Mississippi debut in Oxford, Miss.
Trask completed 30 of 42 passes for 416 yards, throwing touchdown passes of 1, 16, 71 and 17 yards to Pitts. The star tight end had 170 yards receiving in the season and Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.
Trask directed four consecutive touchdown drives that spanned the second and third quarters to help the Gators build a 41-14 lead for the Gators (1-0 Southeastern Conference).
Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral completed 22 of 31 passes for 395 yards and three touchdowns passes, two to Dontario Drummond.
But they couldn’t stop the Gators.
NO. 8 AUBURN 29
NO. 23 KENTUCKY 13
Bo Nix threw for 233 yards and three second-half touchdowns, including a pair to Seth Williams, and Auburn scored twice in the fourth quarter to pull away from Kentucky in the season opener in Auburn, Ala.
The Tigers turned a threequarter scare into a comfortable win by capitalizing on a late turnover and Kentucky’s failed fake punt in the lone Top 25 matchup of the Southeastern Conference’s opening weekend.
Nix completed 16 of 27 passes and also ran for 34 yards.