OXFORD, Miss. — Matt Corral threw for a touchdown and ran for another, directing No. 12 Ole Miss to a 31-point outburst that spanned the second and third quarters to beat lame-duck coach Ed Orgeron and LSU 31-17 Saturday.
LSU (4-4, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) lost in its first game since it was announced Orgeron wouldn't return next season. A former Mississippi coach, he led the Tigers to the national championship less than two years ago.
Mississippi retired the No. 10 jersey of former All-America quarterback Eli Manning at halftime. The capacity crowd of 64,523 enthusiastically cheered Manning and his family members during the tribute.
Trailing 7-0, Corral led four consecutive scoring drives, including a 3-yard touchdown run and a 2-yard touchdown pass to Casey Kelly. The Rebels (6-1, 3-1) led 17-7 at halftime and kept pulling away.
Corral enhanced his status as a Heisman Trophy contender with an efficient performance after being considered questionable from injuries sustained in last week's win over Tennessee. He finished 18 of 23 passing for 185 yards, rushed for 24 yards, including three third-down conversion runs before yielding to reserves in the final period.
Henry Parrish Jr. scored on a 5-yard touchdown run and Jerrion Ealy ran for a 36-yard score for Mississippi. The Rebels had 470 yards of total offense, with Snoop Conner running for 117 yards on 14 carries. Dontario Drummond had a game-high eight catches for 93 yards.
LSU led 7-0 on a 1-yard run by Tyrion Davis-Price, but managed only 51 yards of total offense during the 31-point outburst by Ole Miss.
Reserve quarterback Garrett Nussmeier threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Malik Nabers and Cade Davis added a 47-yard field goal in the final eight minutes.
'Bama pulls away, beats Vols for 15th straight year
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Bryce Young passed for 371 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more scores, carrying No. 4 Alabama to a 52-24 victory Saturday night over traditional rival Tennessee.
Brian Robinson ran for 107 yards and three touchdowns, helping the Crimson Tide (7-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) score 21 points in the first six-plus minutes of the final quarter.
That turned a mostly competitive game against the Volunteers (4-4, 2-3), fueled by Hendon Hooker's 282-yard passing performance, into another lopsided final score.
The result was Alabama's 15th consecutive win in the border rivalry, with the previous five having an average margin of 33 points.
Young, a leading Heisman Trophy candidate, completed 31 of 43 passes and turned five of his frequent scrambles into first downs or touchdowns.
John Metchie caught 11 passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns. Jameson Williams gained 123 yards on six catches.
Hooker was 19-of-28 passing with three scores. But he had a fourth-quarter pass intercepted by Jalyn Armour-Davis, who returned it 47 yards to set up another 'Bama score.
Tennessee's Cedric Tillman had seven catches for 152 yards, including a 70-yard TD early in the fourth.
That came quickly after Young pump faked, then ran and dove over the goal line for a 6-yard touchdown to open the fourth for a 31-17 lead. He bobbled the ball near the goal line before falling on it.
Thirty seconds. Two scores.
Then Alabama struck again, with Young launching a 65-yard bomb to Jameson Williams. That set up Robinson's 15-yard touchdown that effectively quashed the Vols' upset hopes.
Bulldogs whip Vandy
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Will Rogers threw a career-best four touchdowns, two to wide receiver Makai Polk, and Mississippi State was never challenged in a 45-6 Southeastern Conference win over Vanderbilt Saturday afternoon.
The Bulldogs (4-3, 2-2) were coming off a 49-9 loss to No. 4 Alabama. Mississippi State has won their last five meetings with Vanderbilt after a loss in 2004. It was the 17 straight SEC loss for the Commodores (2-6, 0-4).
Rogers threw for first-half touchdowns of 31 and nine yards to Polk, and to wide receiver Rufus Harvey for six yards. He added one more in the third quarter with a nine-yard completion to wide receiver Malik Heath.
The Bulldogs set the offensive pace for the afternoon scoring a touchdown on their first drive. Running back Jo’quavious Marks added a five-yard run in the fourth quarter. Chance Lovertich, replacing Rogers, threw a 28-yard touchdown pass with 51 seconds left in the game.
Vanderbilt settled for a pair of field goals with Joseph Bulovas hitting from 27 yards out in the second quarter and from 41 yards in the third quarter.
Aggies crush South Carolina
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Ainias Smith had a 95-yard punt return for a touchdown and Jalen Wydermyer added two TD catches as No. 17 Texas A&M built a huge first-half lead and coasted to a 44-14 rout of South Carolina Saturday night.
The star rushing duo of Isaiah Spiller and Devone Achane continued to do damage for the Aggies. They combined for 256 yards and two touchdowns a week after rushing for 292 yards and three touchdowns.
Texas A&M (6-2, 3-2 SEC) raced to a 31-0 lead by halftime, and Achane's 35-yard touchdown run made it 41-0 late in the third. It was the third straight victory for Texas A&M, which knocked off top-ranked Alabama two weeks ago before beating Missouri last week.
Zach Calzada had 187 yards passing with two touchdowns for the Aggies.
South Carolina graduate assistant-turned-quarterback Zeb Noland had a tough night before he was benched for Jason Brown early in the fourth quarter. Noland managed just 30 yards passing and had a snap fly over his head that the Aggies recovered and turned into a touchdown in the second quarter.
Noland started the first three games but was hurt Sept. 18 against Georgia and didn’t play again until leading a game-winning drive in the last minute against Vanderbilt last Saturday. Luke Doty was injured against the Commodores and is out for the season after having foot surgery this week.
Brown led the Gamecocks (4-4, 1-4) on two touchdown drives after replacing Noland, but also threw an interception in the end zone.
Smith gave A&M an early lead with his punt return TD in the first quarter. It was the longest punt return for a touchdown in the FBS this season and the longest for the Aggies since Dustin Harris had a 96-yard return for a TD in 2012 against South Carolina State.
Jaylan Foster grabbed his NCAA-leading fifth interception later in the first, but the Gamecocks couldn’t move the ball after the turnover and had to punt.
The Aggies extended the lead to 14-0 when Wydermyer grabbed a 25-yard touchdown reception on their next possession.
Wydermyer made it 21-0 when he grabbed a short pass and barreled through several defenders for a 28-yard score with about 10 ½ minutes left in the first half.
He had 75 yards receiving to give him 1,306 in his career, passing Martellus Bennett (1,246) for most by a tight end in school history.
It looked like Noland had his coaching hat back on three plays after Wydermyer’s second TD when he was so preoccupied yelling and gesturing at his teammates to get set that he didn’t realize the ball had been snapped and it sailed over his head.
The ball rolled all the way to the South Carolina 6 — a loss of 19 yards — before Aaron Hansford pounced on it to give A&M the ball. The Aggies cashed in on the mistake three plays later on a 1-yard TD run by Spiller that made it 28-0.