(Photo: AL.com)
Georgia 41, Tennessee 17
James Cook has career game in rout of Tennessee. The junior tailback carried the ball 10 times for 104 yards and 2 touchdowns and added 3 receptions for 43 yards and another touchdown through the air. Stetson Bennett also set a season-high in pass attempts with 29. Bennett completed 17 of those attempts for 213 yards and a touchdown added 40 yards and another touchdown on the ground. Tennessee got off to a hot start, leading 10-7 after the first quarter, but the Bulldogs took control and never gave it back. Georgia outscored Tennessee 34-7 over the last three quarters. Georgia improves to 10-0 (8-0 SEC) and welcomes Charleston Southern to Sanford Stadium next weekend. Tennessee falls to 5-5 (3-4 SEC) and will take on South Alabama at home.
Alabama 59, New Mexico State 3
Bryce Young throws 5 touchdown passes in win against New Mexico State. The Aggies actually led 3-0 before the Crimson Tide scored 59 straight points. Bryce Young was 21/23 for 270 yards and 5 touchdowns and helped the Tide put up 587 total yards. The defense held NMSU to only 138 total yards and just 9 yards on the ground. Brian Robinson Jr. was also back to his normal self, carrying the ball 9 times for 99 yards and 2 touchdowns. Alabama is now 9-1 (5-1 SEC) and can secure another SEC West crown with a win next week against Arkansas.
Mississippi State 43, Auburn 34
Mississippi State scores 40 unanswered to overcome a 25-point deficit against Auburn. The Tigers were up 28-3 until a little under 2 minutes left in the first half before the Bulldogs finally broke into the deficit. They would score 40 before Auburn scored again and it would be enough to win. Will Rogers added 415 yards to his season total and threw 6 touchdowns. Bo Nix threw for 377 yards and 2 touchdowns. Mississippi State held Tank Bigsby to just 41 yards on 16 carries, an average of just over 2.5 yards per carry. Auburn falls to 6-4 (3-3 SEC) and Mississippi State improves to 6-4 (4-3 SEC). The Bulldogs play Tennessee State, while the Tigers head to South Carolina to take on the Gamecocks.
Ole Miss 29, Texas A&M 19
Ole Miss’s defense was the story in win against Texas A&M. Coming into this game, all eyes were on the Aggie defense, which has been extremely good this year, but it was the Ole Miss defense that was the difference. They picked off Zach Calzada twice, including a pick-six. Ole Miss also outgained A&M 504-378 and rushed for over 250 yards. Jerrion Ealy accounted for 152 of the 257 total rushing yards. Texas A&M now would need Alabama to lose to both Arkansas and Auburn in order to get to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game. They’ll take on Prairie View next weekend while Ole Miss welcomes Vanderbilt to Oxford.
Arkansas 16, LSU 13
Arkansas’s defense comes to play in OT win against LSU. Momentum favored LSU for the entire first half, but the stingy Razorback defense kept the game from getting out of hand and allowed the offense to tie it up before the end of regulation and eventually pull out the win in overtime. Garrett Nussmeier threw for 179 yards, a touchdown, and 2 interceptions after replacing Max Johnson and Tyrion Davis-Price rushed for over 100 yards in the loss. KJ Jefferson didn’t light up the stat sheet, but protected the ball and threw for 142 yards and a touchdown. He also added 41 yards on the ground. Arkansas takes on Alabama next week and LSU hosts UL Monroe.
Florida 70, Samford 52
Florida survives scare in shootout against Samford. The Gators allowed 42 points to Samford before the half, the most in their storied history, but came out victorious thanks to 6 passing touchdowns from Emory Jones. The two teams combined for over 1,200 yards of total offense, with Florida gaining over 700. This game created even more cause for concern for Gator fans that the players have quit on head coach Dan Mullen. This coming fresh off of the firings of their defensive coordinator and offensive line coach, it looks like Florida is heading toward another rebuild. The Gators will need to win their last two games against Missouri and Florida State if they want to go bowling. They’ll take on Missouri first next Saturday.
Kentucky 34, Vanderbilt 17
Chris Rodriguez Jr. rushes for over 100 yards and propels Kentucky to the victory over Vanderbilt. The Wildcats went into halftime up 31-3, but were outscored 14-3 in the second half. A win is a win though, and Kentucky fans will take one however they can get it after losing their previous three. Will Levis threw for 177 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception. Vanderbilt running back Patrick Smith led the Commodores in rushing with 84 yards. Kentucky will take on New Mexico State and Vanderbilt heads to Oxford on Saturday to take on Ole Miss.
Missouri 31, South Carolina 28
Tyler Badie rushes for 209 yards and a touchdown as Missouri outlasts South Carolina. This game went into halftime tied at 14, but Missouri came out quickly after the half to go up 31-14. But the Gamecocks would not go away quietly, climbing back to make it a 3 point game. A four-minute drive would seal it for the Tigers though, and Missouri walked away with the victory. South Carolina was only able to muster 250 yards of total offense and only 57 yards rushing. Missouri welcomes Florida next Saturday at 4 PM and South Carolina hosts Auburn.