The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
South Carolina upends No. 15Auburn
COLUMBIA, S.C.— KevinHarris ran for two touchdowns, and South Carolina turned three interceptions thrownbyBo Nix into points to defeat No. 15 Auburn for the first time in 87 yearswith a 30-22 victory Saturday.
The Tigers (2-2 Southeastern Conference) had won eight straight in the series and jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the opening 10 minutes. But Nix, the sophomore quarterback, threw three picks and the Gamecocks (2-2) cashed in each time to win consecutive games for the first time in more than a year.
Shi Smith had eight catches including a 10-yard TD grab midway through the third quarter and put South Carolina ahead for good 20-19.
Auburn was driving on its following serieswhen Nix threwhis third interception — and second to cornerback JayceeHorn, who brought the ball down the left sidelines to the Tigers’ 8. Harriswas in the end zone a play later for a 27-19 lead, and Auburn could not recover.
The Tigers closed to 30-22 on Anders Carlson’s 22-yard field goal with 6:39 left. Auburn got the ball back once more with 2:15 left and drove to the South Carolina 13. Nix, though, was called for intentional grounding trying to avoid a sack and the Gamecocks held on to beat the Tigers for the first time since 1933.
South Carolina had not won back-to-back games since def eating Kentucky and then-No .3 Georgia last season. That win over the Bulldogs was the last time the Gamecocks had beaten a ranked opponent.
Auburn’ s offense looked unstoppable the first half and doubled upSouth Carolina in yardage (243119) the first 30 minutes — except when Nix put the ball in danger.
Nix was 8 of 14 for 94 yards on the Tigers first two drives for a 9-0 lead. But he threwinto triple coverage on the next series and was picked off by Horn, son of longtime NFL receiver Joe Horn.
Five plays later, Harris ran for a 4-yard TD to tighten things.
Again, Auburn restored its edge — and Nix found SethWilliams on a 44-yard pass for the Tigers’ longest throw this year — with Tank Bigsby’s 2-yard touchdown run to go up 16-7.
And again, Nix’s interception — this time by Jaylin Dickerson — got the Gamecocks back in it as Hill ended an 11-play drive with a 1-yard run.
Nix had 272 yards passing. He was also sacked three times.
Bigsby, the Auburn freshman, had 111 yards rushing and went past the century mark for a second straight game.
Florida’s Mullen says he tested positive for virus
Florida coach Dan Mullen announced Saturday he has tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the latest person impacted by the outbreakwithin the Gators football program.
Mullen said his initial positive test result was confirmed.
An outbreak among th eU F football team prompted the school
to suspend all team activities and postpone Saturday’s game against LSUand nextweek’sgame against Missouri.
The Gators (2-1) would have had fewer than 50scholarship players available to face the Tigers (1-2) in the Swamp. UF also would have had at least three coaches absent.
UF’s medical staff has not pinpointed the exact origin of the Gators’ outbreak but surmised it began with a couple of players — one experiencing congestion and another aheadache late lastweek. Suspecting an allergy or seasonal cold, neither reported the symptoms before the team traveled to a game against Texas A&M.
Elsewhere
Kentucky 34, (at) No. 18 Tennessee 7: Kelvin Joseph and Jami Davis returned interceptions for touchdowns in the first half, and Kentucky shut outNo. 18 Tennessee in the second half for its first win in Neyland Stadium since 1984.
After getting six interceptions and allowing only a safety against Mississippi State last week, Kentucky (2-2) picked off three passes against the Vols (2-2).
Tennessee has now followed up an eight-game winning streak with a two-game losing streak.
No. 11TexasA&M28, (at) Mississippi State 14: Isaiah Spiller ran for 114 yards and two touchdowns, and Kellen Mond threw for two scores for Texas A&M (3-1), which led 14-0 at the half and had 325 yards of total offense in the game.
Mississippi State (1-3) had little offensive rhythmfor the third straight game. The Bulldogs’ first touchdown came on Emmanuel Forbes’ interception return in the third quarter.
Bulldogs coach Mike Leach benched starting quarterback KJ Costellomidway through the second half for freshman Will Rogers, who connected with Malik Heath for a 15-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.
(At) Arkansas 33, Ole Miss 21: Arkansas forced quarterback Matt Corral to throwsix interceptions as the Razorbacks scored 24 points off seven turnovers. Arkansas (2-2) built a 20-0 halftime lead, its largest halftime advantage in an SEC game since its last winning season in 2016.
Corral entered the game second in the league in yards passing with just one interception through three games for Ole Miss (1-3). He threw two touchdown passes against the Razorbacks but had a season-low200 yards.