SEC ROUNDUP
No. 9 Auburn 21, No. 6 Washington 16: Jatarvious Whitlow ran 10 yards for a touchdown with 6:15 remaining and the Auburn defense came through at the end, leading the No. 9 Tigers a 21-16 victory over No. 6 Washington that provided a big boost to their resume in the very first game of the season Saturday.
Trailing 16-15 after missing a two-point conversion on their opening possession of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, Auburn drove 76 yards in 10 plays for the winning score. Jarrett Stidham kept it going with a 12yard pass to Chandler Cox on third-and-9.
Then, facing third-and-7 deep in Washington territory, Auburn handed off inside to Whitlow, who knocked over a Washington safety as he barreled into the end zone .
Washington drove to the Auburn 37 with plenty of time to pull off the comeback, but Myles Gaskin was thrown for a 3-yard loss and Jake Browning was stymied by a fierce pass rush on back-to-back plays to preserve the Tigers’ victory.
No. 17 West Virginia 40, Tennessee 14: CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Will Grier got his Heisman Trophy campaign off to an impressive start, throwing for 429 yards and five touchdowns for West Virginia in a game delayed for more than an hour due to lightning.
No. 3 Georgia 45, Austin Peay 0: ATHENS, Ga. – Jake Fromm threw two scoring passes while sharing time with freshman Justin Fields and Georgia showed off some new firepower in rolling past Austin Peay.
South Carolina 49, Coastal Carolina 15: COLUMBIA, S.C. – Jake Bentley threw for four touchdowns, Rico Dowdle scored twice and South Carolina beat Coastal Carolina. The Gamecocks didn’t show any sign of their historical pattern of letting smaller opponents hang around. South Carolina scored in the first three minutes, twice in the first 10 and put the game away on its third touchdown with 6:03 to go before halftime.
Kentucky 35, Central Michigan 20: LEXINGTON, Ky. – A.J. Rose and Benny Snell Jr. each rushed for two touchdowns, Gunnar Hoak came off the bench to throw the go-ahead TD pass and Kentucky overcame four first-half turnovers to beat Central Michigan.
Arkansas 55, Eastern Illinois 20: FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Ty Storey threw for three touchdowns and rushed for another to help Arkansas win Chad Morris’ coaching debut. Storey threw for 214 yards and three touchdowns in the second quarter alone and finished 12-of-17 passing for 261 yards overall.
Missouri 51, UT Martin 14: COLUMBIA, Mo. – Offensive coordinators come and go, but Drew Lock continues to produce big numbers for Missouri, which beat Tennessee-Martin 51-14 in Saturday’s season opener. Lock, who set a Southeastern Conference record with 44 touchdown passes last year, completed 19 of 25 passes for 289 yards and four TDs.