TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Javier Arenas ran back a punt 80 yards for one touchdown and set up a score with another long return, helping No. 1 Alabama roll to a 32-7 victory over Mississippi State on Saturday night.

The Crimson Tide (11-0, 7-0 SEC ) didn’t need a dominant offensive performance to turn back a team that had given Alabama fits the past two years.

Kareem Jackson blocked a punt in the end zone for a safety and Leigh Tiffin kicked three field goals to help keep Alabama on track for a perfect regular season leading up to a showdown with No. 3 Florida in the SEC championship game.

Mississippi State (3-7, 1-5 ) had won the past two meetings with Coach Sylvester Croom’s alma matter. The Bulldogs, who were knocked out of contention for a second consecutive bowl trip, also had been the team to end Alabama’s last regular-season reign over the rankings back in 1980 when Croom was a Tide assistant.

Arenas effectively wiped out any fears of a repeat 28 years later. He darted through a gaping hole and raced down the sidelines for his fifth career punt-return touchdown early in the second half to break David Palmer’s school mark.

Arenas gained ™ yards on six returns and helped spark a 27-point surge over the final 35 minutes.

Alabama trailed 7-5 when he turned in his first big runback and was in command after his second. His 46-yarder to the Bulldogs’ 2-yard line set up John Parker Wilson’s 1-yard sneak. It was the Tide’s first offensive touchdown against Mississippi State since the fourth quarter of the 2004 game, a span of some 210 minutes of play.

Mark Ingram added another 1-yard score in the fourth quarter.

The Tide turned in a workmanlike performance coming off an emotional overtime victory at LSU that clinched the SEC West title.

Wilson completed 10 of 17 passes for 148 yards but and set up scores with long passes to Julio Jones and Brad Smelley. Ingram ran for 78 yards, and Glen Coffee had 71 for the Tide.

Mississippi State took the lead on Jamayel Smith’s 31-yard pass from Tyson Lee five minutes into the second quarter. The Bulldogs couldn’t produce much else offensively.

Lee completed 11 of 28 passes for 132 yards while the league’s top run defense held Anthony Dixon to 26 yards on 11 carries.

Alabama’s lone remaining game before the Gators is against struggling Auburn in two weeks. LSU 40, TROY 31 BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU roared back from 28 points down to beat Troy, completing the biggest comeback in school history when Charles Scott scored with 4: 50 left to put 19 th-ranked LSU ahead for good. Troy went up 31-3 midway through the third quarter, but LSU (7-3 ) answered with a touchdown and then ran off 30 points in the fourth quarter to avoid an embarrassing loss. LSU had touchdowns on three consecutive possessions to cut Troy’s lead to 31-24 with 10: 33 left.

The go-ahead score was set up when a punt bounced off the leg of Troy’s Jorrick Calvin and the Tigers recovered at the Trojans’ 16. Scott scored four plays later after about two-thirds of the fans had left by the end of the third quarter.

The Tigers led 33-31 after Scott scored and Colt David missed the kick. Quinn Johnson scored his second touchdown with about two minutes left to finally put the Trojans at a safe distance.

Levi Brown completed 34 of 72 passes for 312 yards and 2 TDs Troy (6-4 ), which scored touchdowns on its first two possessions and was seeking its second victory against an SEC team. LSU avoided its first loss to a Sun Belt team in 33 games.

LSU’s Scott finished with 91 yards rushing and Jarrett Lee completed 20 of 34 passes for 217 yards and a touchdown to Brandon LaFell.