NO. 13 LSU 36, NO. 2 GEORGIA 16
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Joe Burrow passed for 200 yards and had two short touchdown runs, LSU's defense staggered Georgia's normally prolific offense, and the 13th-ranked Tigers beat the No. 2 Bulldogs 36-16 on Saturday to give coach Ed Orgeron a signature victory.
Five fourth-down decisions by Orgeron influenced the result. LSU converted all four times it ran an offensive play on fourth down, sustaining three drives that produced a total of 13 points.
In another instance, Orgeron called timeout and elected to punt on fourth-and-2 after the offense initially remained on the field. That decision pinned Georgia at its 4, and Kristian Fulton's interception of Jake Fromm's pass shortly afterward set up another of Cole Tracy's five field goals.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire rushed for 133 yards for LSU (6-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference), and Justin Jefferson caught six passes for 108 yards, including a 41-yard snag of a pass rifled over the middle and between converging defenders. That catch set up Burrow's second TD in the fourth quarter.
Nick Brossette added a short touchdown in the final minutes after Burrow's 59-yard scamper. Fans rushed the field, ignoring pleas not to do so from the public address announcer, as the game ended.
Fromm had by far his worst game of the season for Georgia (6-1, 4-1), completing 16 of 34 passes for 209 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
NO. 1 ALABAMA 39, MISSOURI 10
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Tua Tagovailoa passed for 265 yards and three touchdowns before leaving early in Alabama victory over Missouri.
The Crimson Tide (7-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) shrugged off another would-be challenger in the league, but got a scare when the star quarterback went down after sliding at the end of a run in the third quarter.
Tagovailoa went to the medical tent on the sideline after aggravating a sprained right knee. He was joined by his parents, and Jalen Hurts led the Tide the rest of the way with a big lead over the Tigers (3-3, 0-3). Tagovailoa was playing with a brace on his right knee, sprained last week against Arkansas.
Jerry Jeudy gained 147 yards on three catches, including an 81-yard touchdown from Tagovailoa on the game's second play. DeVonta Smith had four catches for 100 yards and a touchdown before leaving with an apparent leg injury after a 57-yard gain in the second quarter.
NO. 14 FLORIDA 37, VANDERBILT 27
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Jordan Scarlett ran 48 yards for the go-ahead touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter, and Florida rallied from an 18-point deficit to beat Vanderbilt in a game marred by a near brawl, with both head coaches yelling as each team spilled onto the field.
An official held back Florida coach Dan Mullen as he yelled at Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason, who was near the Gators' sideline after checking on the Commodores defender whose helmet was knocked off by a hit by linebacker James Houston IV. Both teams spilled onto the field, drawing unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. The penalty cost the Gators their leading tackler, with Vosean Joseph ejected for his second such penalty of the first half. Two people escorted an emotional Joseph off the field.
Mullen and Mason hugged each other at midfield after the game.
That overshadowed the Gators (6-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) scoring 24 straight points after Vanderbilt jumped out to a 21-3 lead midway through the second quarter. The Gators beat Vanderbilt (3-4, 0-3) for the fifth straight year and 27th time in 28 games in this series.
TENNESSEE 30, NO. 21 AUBURN 24
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Jarrett Guarantano passed for 328 yards and two touchdowns and Tennessee snapped an 11-game Southeastern Conference losing streak.
The Volunteers (3-3, 1-2) forced three turnovers from Auburn's lackluster offense, intercepting two of Jarrett Stidham's passes and getting a strip sack that resulted in touchdown by Alontae Taylor.
The Tigers (4-3, 1-3) are off to their worst SEC start since also going 1-3 in 2015.
NO. 22 TEXAS A&M 26, SOUTH CAROLINA 23
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Kellen Mond threw for 353 yards and freshman Seth Small had four field goals, including the go-ahead kick in the fourth quarter, for Texas A&M.
The Aggies (5-2, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) won their third straight this season and moved to 5-0 against the Gamecocks (3-3, 2-3) since joining the league in 2012.
Mond also had a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jace Sternberger in the second quarter and, when Small hit a 32-yard field goal on the Aggies' first drive of the second half to go up 16-0, it looked like more than enough to put away the Gamecocks. But Jake Bentley, returning from a knee injury, led a pair of third-quarter TD drives — and the two-point conversions both times.