SEC ROUNDUP
No. 5 Alabama 38, Mississippi State 7: Tua Tagovailoa injured his hip while being dragged down by tacklers late in the first half on what was likely his last series and visiting Alabama (9-1, 6-1 SEC) went on to beat Mississippi State (4-6, 2-5) on Saturday in a game that might have cost the Crimson Tide its star quarterback. Tagovailoa was injured after a scramble when he was taken down hard by Bulldogs linebacker Leo Lewis. Tagovailoa needed help getting to his feet and was carted off the field with 3:01 left in the second quarter. The junior had been nursing an ankle injury that needed surgery four weeks ago, but Alabama coach Nick Saban said it was unrelated. Saban called it “freak injury.” Alabama officials confirmed Tagovailoa was flown by helicopter to the St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Birmingham, Alabama. The junior was 14 of 18 for 256 yards and two touchdown passes, giving him 31 on the season. He was replaced in the second half by Mac Jones. The Crimson Tide jumped out to a 14-0 lead on a touchdown run and a touchdown catch by Najee Harris, who finished with four TDS. Mississippi State cut the lead to 14-7 on a 1-yard scoring run by Kylin Hill. The Bulldogs must now win out to be bowl eligible. Harris finished with 88 yards rushing and 51 yards receiving. Jerry Jeudy had seven catches for 114 yards to pace the Alabama passing attack. Tommy Stevens was 12 of 21 passing for Mississippi State and had just 82 yards passing.
No. 11 Florida 23, Missouri 6: Kyle Trask threw two touchdown passes after a sluggish first half by visiting Florida (9-2, 6-2) and the Gators beat Missouri (5-5, 2-4). Trask completed 23 of 35 passes for 282 yards. That was plenty of offense for Florida, which held Missouri to 204 total yards. Linebacker Jon Greenard spent most of the day in the Tigers’ backfield, finishing with two sacks and five tackles for loss. The Tigers have lost four straight games and haven’t scored a touchdown in the last two. Florida led 6-3 after a first half in which the teams combined for 10 punts. The Gators struggled up front offensively in the first half, allowing four sacks to a team that had only 14 sacks on the season entering the game. They gained just 29 yards on the ground before intermission and finished with 56 rushing yards. It was a similar story for Missouri, which welcomed Kelly Bryant back at quarterback after he missed last week’s game at Georgia with a hamstring injury. Bryant repeatedly slipped out of the arms of blitzers to extend plays, but the Tigers struggled to put drives together without any help from its running game. Bryant completed 25 of 38 passes for 204 yards and one interception. Missouri’s only scores came on two Tucker Mccann field goals. The Gators finally got going in the third quarter when Trask connected with Josh Hammond for a 34yard touchdown pass and hit Lamical Perine for a 15yard TD.