Daniels, Pickens connect, lead No. 12 Georgia over Missouri
COLUMBIA, Mo. — JT Daniels threw three touchdown passes, two of them to George Pickens as No. 12 Georgia broke away from Missouri, 49-14, Saturday.
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 600-yard 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 five 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.
Rountree, who had rushed for more than 180 yards in each of the last two games against Vanderbilt and Arkansas, managed just 16 yards on 14 carries.
Connor Bazelak completed 17 of 28 passes for 139 yards and ran for the Tigers’ other score.
Missouri: In Eli Drinkwitz’s first season, the Tigers have taken care of business against the SEC’s middle- and lowerteams, but there is a talent gap between them and the league’s elite. Missouri, which checked into the College Football Playoff rankings at No. 25 this week, has been outscored 128-52 in losses to Alabama, Florida and Georgia.
Georgia: The Bulldogs are a different team with Daniels at quarterback. In his three games as starter, Georgia is averaging 41.7 points. The Bulldogs averaged 28 points before Daniels took over.
Oklahoma State 42, Baylor 3
WACO, Texas — Dillon Stoner had eight catches for 247 yards with three first-half touchdowns, freshman running back Dominic Richardson ran for 169 yards with three scores and Oklahoma State won its regular season finale against undermanned Baylor.
The Bears (2-7, 2-7 Big 12) played two days after their football facility was temporarily closed because of COVID-19 issues. Because of injuries and COVID-19, either positive tests or contact tracing, the Bears had 47 people — players, coaches and support personnel — that were unavailable for the game. This was the makeup of a game postponed Oct. 17 because of a virus outbreak in the Baylor program.
With Big 12 leading receiver Tylan Wallace out for the Cowboys because of an injury, Stoner had a 75-yard catch-and-run on the second play of the game when he got behind the secondary for his first touchdown this season. Stoner reached through cornerback Raleigh Texada to catch a lobbed 15-yard TD, and made turned a crossing pattern into a 40-yard score that put the Cowboys (7-3, 6-3) ahead 21-0 only a minute into the second quarter.
Stoner nearly doubled his season total of 283 yards receiving the senior had on 29 catches in his previous eight games this season. Spencer Sanders completed 20 of 30 passes for 347 yards with two interceptions for Oklahoma State, which finished with 608 total yards.
Baylor wrapped up coach Dave Aranda’s first season with only one full-time assistant offensive coach at the game. That was running backs coach Justin Johnson serving as acting offensive coordinator and calling plays for the first time with the help of two graduate assistants. The rest of the offensive staff, including offensive coordinator Larry Fedora, missed the season finale.
The Bears had only 156 yards, and were down 35-0 until John Mayers kicked a 40-yard field goal with 7:55 left.
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, but was on the field only once, driving a low kickoff to open the second half as the Commodores got shut out at Missouri.
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 Southeastern Conference 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 with 1:50 left in the first quarter.
The 6-foot-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 with her family in the stands all with their arms up in the air.
An official gave Fuller the ball on the sideline. 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 straight between 2000 and 2003.
Tennessee (3-6) left with the much-needed victory with Harrison Bailey and J.T. Shrout throwing for two touchdowns apiece.