SEC football roundup: Florida, Alabama keep rolling, Georgia finds a quarterback
SEC football roundup of Saturday’s games:
Florida 38, Vanderbilt 17: The Gators trailed 10-7 at the end of the first quarter before turning on the jets to beat the Commodores in Nashville. Florida quarterback Kyle Trask threw for three more touchdowns without an interception, hitting on 26 of 35 passes for 383 yards and three touchdowns. Kadarius Toney caught six balls for 107 yards and a score.
Vandy was only outgained 586-406. True freshman quarterback Ken Seals completed 22 of 34 passes for 319 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Over his last two games, Seals is 43-for-66 passing for 544 yards and four scores with one pick.
Alabama 63, Kentucky 3: Not much to say about the thrashing in Tuscaloosa. The top-ranked Crimson Tide outgained the Wildcats 509-179 on the way to going 7-0. Quarterback Mac Jones hit on 16 of 24 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns with an interception. It was just Jones’ third interception of the season.
Kentucky was playing without top running back Chris Rodriguez, top tackler Jamin Davis and All-American punter Max Duffy, who also holds on kicks. UK botched two first half field goal attempts. A high snap through the holder’s hands killed the first. A wobbly snap and shaky hold caused the second to be missed.
Georgia 31, Mississippi State 24: Mike Leach and Mississippi State took Georgia to the wire before losing in Athens. It was the debut of Georgia quarterback JT Daniels, the USC transfer who completed 28 of 38 passes for 401 yards and four touchdowns.
Freshman wide out Jermaine Burton caught eight balls for 197 yards. Burton caught TD passes of 18 and 48 yards. Burton came within eight yards of tying the school’s single-game receiving record set by Tavarres King with 205 yards vs. Michigan State in 2012.
Daniels’ 40-yard touchdown pass to Kearis Jackson with 9:50 to go was the game-winner for UGA, now 5-2. Why wasn’t he playing earlier. “I was not cleared for the Arkansas game,” said Daniels, who underwent ACL surgery last year. “Other than that, it was coach decision-based. I did not look into it as ‘something happened to me.’ It was all coach Smart’s decision.”
Auburn 30, Tennessee 17: After opening the season with a pair of victories, the Vols lost their fifth straight. UT’s Eric Gray rushed for 173 yards on 22 carries and caught three passes for 48 yards, but it wasn’t nearly enough for the visitors.
Auburn improved to 5-2 by outscoring Tennessee 20-7 in the second half. Smoke Monday picked off a Jarrett Guarantano pass in the end zone and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown with 2:21 left in the third quarter to make it 20-10 Auburn. Gus Malzahn’s team took it from there.
LSU 27, Arkansas 24: LSU rallied in Fayetteville to get the win when quarterback TJ Finley found Jaray Jenkins for a 13-yard touchdown with 3:59 remaining. Arkansas had taken a 21-20 lead in the third quarter on a 95-yard drive, then A.J. Reed’s 22-yard field goal with 12:42 left in the fourth expanded Arkansas’ lead to four. Turns out that wasn’t enough.
Finley completed 27 of 42 passes for 277 yards and two touchdowns. Tyrion Davis-Price rushed for 104 yards and a score on 24 carries for the Tigers, now 3-3. Arkansas dropped to 3-5, though Mike Woods caught four passes for 140 yards.
Missouri 17, South Carolina 10: Mike Bobo’s debut as South Carolina’s coach couldn’t change the Gamecocks’ ways. Mizzou built a 17-0 halftime lead and held on to beat South Carolina in Columbia.
Missouri quarterback Connor Bazelak completed 21 of 33 passes for 203 yards and a touchdown with an interception. South Carolina managed just 283 yards of offense as Bobo sat starter Collin Hill for freshman Luke Doty, who was 14 of 23 for 130 yards with an interception that sealed the win for Missouri.
SEC football games on Nov. 28
- 12:00 - Kentucky at Florida (ESPN)
- 12:00 - Arkansas at Missouri (SEC)
- 3:30 - Auburn at Alabama (CBS)
- 4:00 - Miss State at Ole Miss (SEC)
- 7:00 - LSU at Texas A&M (ESPN)
- 7:30 - Georgia at South Carolina (SEC)
- 7:30 - Tennessee at Vanderbilt (SEC alternate)
