Auburn 31, Vanderbilt 6

By JOHN ZENOR
AP Sports Writer

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- Carnell Williams and the Auburn defense took care of the scoring, and Daniel Cobb took care of the ball.

Williams ran for 170 yards and two touchdowns, and Auburn returned two fumbles for scores as the Tigers beat Vanderbilt 31-6 Saturday in the SEC opener for both teams.

"I told the defense this is the last time, hopefully, they ever score as much as we do," said Cobb, who had a pristine performance despite often blustery, rainy conditions.

Williams did his part for the offense.

On his 20th and final carry of the day, he ran for a 65-yard touchdown late in the third quarter to help Auburn (2-1) win its 10th straight conference opener and 11th straight against Vanderbilt (1-2).

"Carnell's performance was outstanding," said Cobb, who was 13-of-18 for 143 yards. "He was breaking tackles, breaking big gains and pushing the pile."

The Commodores blew any chance at a comeback when Auburn's Mayo Sowell knocked the ball loose from redshirt freshman quarterback Jay Cutler early in the fourth quarter. Spencer Johnson picked it up and ran 27 yards for the game's final score.

"If it hadn't been for turnovers, the game would have been a lot closer," Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said.

"The score really didn't reflect the game well," Vandy receiver Dan Stricker said.

Karlos Dansby also forced a fumble by Cutler and brought it back for a 7-yard TD in the first half and Vanderbilt committed four turnovers.

Cutler was 11-of-22 for 120 yards but was intercepted twice, one week after he accounted for five touchdowns in a win over Furman.

"We helped them too much," said Vandy coach Bobby Johnson, who got his first taste of the SEC. "They run well, and they made big plays.

"They had us on our heels most of the game. We had some bad decisions by Jay Cutler, but we just have to live with an inexperienced quarterback."

The Tigers led just 14-6 at halftime, their offense stifled by a blocked field goal on the opening series and a fumble, both of which came after the team had driven inside the Commodores' 10-yard line.

Auburn scored shortly after the blocked field goal, when Dansby ran untouched into the backfield and nailed Cutler. Dansby scooped the ball up for Auburn's first fumble return for a touchdown since 1997.

"He saw me coming," Dansby said of Cutler. "His eyes got real big."

Williams ran for a 23-yard TD on Auburn's next possession, but Vandy added two field goals by Greg Johnson in the second quarter.

Williams shook off a tackle at the line and ran untouched along the left sideline for his 65-yarder.

"The play went just like it was designed," said Williams, who sat out the fourth. "After I got past the safety, I knew I could take it in for six.

"We grinded the ball and it wore down their defense."

Williams has five touchdowns this season, all on runs of 20-plus yards.

No. 9 Georgia 13, South Carolina 7

By PETE IACOBELLI
AP Sports Writer

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- On a team loaded with offensive stars, Georgia coach Mark Richt knew who won this game.

"One of my first observations is that David Pollack is a warrior," Richt said.

No one who watched the sophomore defensive end dominate South Carolina on Saturday would argue.

Pollack recovered a fumble near Georgia's goal line in the second quarter and then had a strange interception return for a touchdown in the fourth as the ninth-ranked Bulldogs held on to beat South Carolina 13-7 Saturday.

"I don't know how it happened," Pollack said.

Neither does South Carolina quarterback Corey Jenkins. He was looking for an open Andrea Gause after dropping into the end zone. Pollack swarmed over Jenkins, but did not appear to get much of the ball.

"When I hit it," Pollack said, "I noticed it kind of stuck to my hand."

So did the referee, who put up his arms to signal touchdown as Pollack ran toward his jumping teammates.

"That's when I thought, 'Oh my goodness, this is just one of those days when everything is going to go wrong,"' Jenkins said.

He was just about right.

Pollack recovered a fumble by Andrew Pinnock in the second quarter on Georgia's 3 after Tony Gilbert knocked the ball away with his helmet.

In the SEC opener for both teams, Georgia (2-0) ended a two-game losing streak to the Gamecocks (1-2), who have lost two straight under coach Lou Holtz for the first time in two years.

Georgia's defense rose up one last time with South Carolina driving in the final moments. Pinnock, the Gamecocks' goal-line specialist with 22 career touchdowns, had Jenkins' pitch bounce off his chest with 12 seconds left. Thomas Davis recovered and Georgia ran out the clock.

"I dropped the pitch," Pinnock said, "and we lost the game."

Holtz said offensive coordinator Skip Holtz wanted Jenkins to run a tighter option on the final play. But the coach thought he would succeed with Pinnock "in the open field going north-south," Holtz said. "It looked like a good pitch. I can't tell."

As Tropical Storm Hanna made its way to Williams-Brice Stadium, delaying the game by 52 minutes, it looked like Georgia kicker Billy Bennett's early 22-yard field goal would be the only score of the game.

That is, until Pollack started a crazy fourth quarter with his score.

If it were up to Richt, Pollack might have never been in his position. Pollack was tried at fullback and nose tackle before settling in at defensive end last spring.

Pollack has proved his worth.

"He's got the heart of a lion," Richt said. "He's the kind of guy who takes the knowledge and will work, work, work until he gets better. Not only good at it, but great at it."

The way Pollard held onto Jenkins' pass for the interception score was perhaps the biggest play for a Georgia defense stretched to the limit.

"Two guys trying to block him -- a lineman and a back -- beats those two guys, then he bats down the pass and ends up catching it," Richt said. "I've just never seen a play like that."

The sloppy weather also played a role in Georgia's win.

"It was a little slippery," said Georgia tailback Musa Smith, who rushed for 103 yards.

South Carolina receiver Matthew Thomas had a step on defender Decory Bryant and dropped a sure touchdown strike in the second quarter. Pinnock fumbled on the next series. And South Carolina kicker Daniel Weaver pushed a 37-yard field goal try left as a steady rain fell before half.

The Gamecocks drove inside Georgia's 25 in the third quarter, but receiver Michael Ages was stopped a few feet shy of a first down on a fourth-and-10 pass.

Georgia Backup QB Shockley Breaks Foot
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Georgia freshman quarterback D.J. Shockley broke a bone in his left foot during Saturday's 13-7 victory over South Carolina, and he's out indefinitely.

"I would guess at least a couple of weeks," Georgia coach Mark Richt said. "And maybe more than that."

Shockley ran for one touchdown and threw for another two weeks ago in Georgia's 31-28 victory over Clemson. His play brought talk of a quarterback controversy between Shockley and David Greene, last year's Southeastern Conference freshman of the year.

Greene was the more effective of the two against South Carolina. He completed 11 of 19 passes to set up two scoring drives. Shockley missed on all three of his throws and ran for 17 yards.

Texas Tech 42, Mississippi 28

By BETSY BLANEY
Associated Press Writer

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -- On a night when Texas Tech's Kliff Kingsbury became the Big 12's career leading passer, it was fitting that he put the finishing touches on a 42-28 victory over Mississippi on Saturday.

The Rebels (2-1) rallied from a 21-point deficit to cut the score to 35-28 in the fourth quarter.

Then Kingsbury answered with an 84-yard drive for Tech (2-1), capped by a 5-yard touchdown pass to Nehemiah Glover with 3:21 left.

"I didn't say anything to Kliff in particular; I did to talk to the offense (before the drive)," Tech coach Mike Leach said. "They responded by being as good as they had been all day."

Kingsbury completed 25 of 38 passes for 270 yards to take his career yards to 8,392 yards. He passed Texas' Major Applewhite, who had 8,353, for the conference mark.

"It's a great honor," Kingsbury said. "I passed a guy I've looked up to for a long time, in Major Applewhite. I'm sure someone else will break it, but it's a big honor."

Tech scored on offense, defense and special teams to hand Mississippi its first loss in 25 nonconference games.

"We did a good job of rising on all three sides of the the ball today," Leach said. "When you do that, you're tough to beat."

Wes Welker's 71-yard punt return late in the third quarter put Tech up 35-14 and appeared to seal the win.

But Mississippi's Eli Manning, who was 34-of-57 for 374 yards, threw two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to make it 35-28.

Field position aided Texas Tech throughout the game as punter Clinton Greathouse put the Rebels inside their 20 three times and inside their 5 twice. He averaged 52 yards and hit a 67-yarder that forced Mississippi to start at its own 1.

Greathouse said he struggled in the first two games, so he concentrated on his drop this past week.

"I had been hurrying the kick instead of just getting it off," he said. "I surprised myself, honestly, today because they were good kicks."

The Red Raiders scored twice in the final 5 minutes of the second quarter for a 28-7 halftime lead.

The first came when defensive end Adell Duckett, making his first career start, intercepted a pass by Manning and returned it 21 yards for a touchdown.

"He's played off-and-on up until now," Leach said. "He just had a tremendous day. He batted several balls down and got the interception. Just a great day."

Then, after going three-and-out on their next possession, Rebels punter Cody Ridgeway couldn't handle a high snap and was tackled on his own 11. Four plays later, Kingsbury ran in from the 2 to give Tech a 28-7 lead.

"On the road, it's hard enough without making mistakes like that," Rebels coach David Cutcliffe said.

Robert Williams scored on an 8-yard run on Mississippi's first possession of the third quarter to cut the margin to 28-14.

The Rebels then recovered a fumble by Kingsbury at the Tech 12 but came away without a score when a fake field goal attempt from the 23 failed.

"We got the look that we wanted, we just couldn't execute," Cutcliffe said. "We needed a spark and I'd make that decision again."

No. 12 Florida 34, Ohio 6

By EDDIE PELLS
AP Sports Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida fans spent the week debating whether it was talent or coaching that was holding the Gators back. On Saturday, they may have found their answer.

It's both.

A game the Gators put on the schedule to build confidence did the opposite. Led by two touchdowns from Earnest Graham, the 12th-ranked Gators struggled most of the night in a 34-6 victory over Ohio.

In the old days, Steve Spurrier would have ripped his team for such a performance. But on a rain-drenched night in which the score looked much more impressive than the product on the field, Ron Zook was in spin mode.

"I feel good," Zook said. "I've never come out of a game where I didn't feel we needed to improve somewhere."

This game was supposed to erase the harsh memories of last week's 41-16 loss to No. 1 Miami and give Florida (2-1) a boost heading into next week's big Southeastern Conference opener against Tennessee.

Mission accomplished?

"Outside of the team, I don't think anybody thinks we're going to do well next week," offensive lineman Shannon Snell said.

Through most of the first half, Florida looked unprepared and got outplayed by Ohio (0-3), a 42-point underdog that lost 31-0 to Division I-AA Northeastern last week.

For 90 mindboggling minutes, the Gators actually trailed 3-0, courtesy of an interception by Rex Grossman on his first throw of the night, a 48-yard field goal by Kevin Kerr and a frog-strangling thunderstorm that sent the teams to the locker room for a 46-minute delay.

"It was one of the worst plays of my whole life," Grossman said of his interception.

During the wait, a handful of students jumped over the wall and did belly dives onto the soaked field. Turned out, they were some of the best moves Florida kids made all night.

Ohio didn't do anything fancy to stay in this game. In fact, the Bobcats ran the option all night and threw four measly passes. Just like last week against Miami, the Gators knew what was coming, but they couldn't always stop it.

Florida's lack of preparation showed the most in the second quarter, when Bobcats quarterback Dontrell Jackson led his team on a beautiful 20-play drive that ate up 9:47, covered 63 yards and included four conversions on third- or fourth-and-short. Finally, the Gators stopped the drive and held the Bobcats to a field goal.

"We felt that if we could confuse them early, we would have a good chance to get ahead early," Ohio coach Brian Knorr said. "We wanted to get a touchdown, but it came down to just getting the three points."

With the field goal, Florida led 7-6 with 1 minute left in the first half, and the unthinkable seemed possible.

With 118 yards on 29 carries, Jackson was the only 100-yard rusher of the night. He finished with 12 yards passing. Ohio held the ball for nearly 38 minutes.

Graham gave Florida a 7-3 lead seven plays after Grossman hit Carlos Perez for 36 yards on third-and-21. Grossman hit Matt Jackson for 15 yards on third-and-13 to keep the second scoring drive alive and give the Gators a 14-6 lead before halftime.

Zook had to coach his heart out, and when he chose to punt on fourth-and-short in Ohio territory in the third quarter, the fans who stuck it out in the pouring rain booed.

It wasn't the only time.

Graham lost a fumble, Matt Piotrowicz sent a kickoff out of bounds and Mike Degory lobbed a shotgun snap over Grossman's head for an 11-yard loss. Under heavy pressure once, Grossman threw a nice pass -- to lineman David Jorgensen, who was standing near the sideline for some reason. The list went on and on.

"We have to get better next week," Snell said. "It was a messy game out there tonight."

It wasn't a totally unfamiliar condition for the Gators, who often struggled in these early season tuneups when Spurrier was coach. But almost all those outcomes were well beyond doubt by the time halftime rolled around.

Not Saturday.

This game wasn't secure until Graham took a pitch from Grossman on an option play and scored a 40-yard touchdown for a 28-6 lead with 13 minutes left. Willie Green scored a few minutes later, but it only dressed up the score in an otherwise rugged night for the Gators.

As hard as Zook tried to spin a success story, he knows the reviews are going to be bad.

"Everybody's going to judge us by next week, anyway," he said in one of his rare moments of candor.

Alabama 33, North Texas 7

By JAY REEVES
Associated Press Writer

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -- Tyler Watts was happy with everyone except himself Saturday night after Alabama beat North Texas 33-7.

Watts was 12-for-15 passing for 161 yards, and he gained 64 yards on a dozen runs. But he also had an interception and a costly fumble that gnawed at him.

"Except for myself the rest of the team stayed focused," Watts said after four Alabama players ran for touchdowns.

Watts' backup, Brodie Croyle, got his first substantial playing time and led Alabama (2-1) on two scoring drives. Croyle was 2-for-4 passing for 37 yards with an interception.

"It's going to be fun being sore tomorrow," said Croyle, who didn't play last season in his first year at Alabama and missed his senior year in high school with an injury.

Alabama's defense bottled up North Texas most of the night, holding the Mean Green (1-2) to 50 yards rushing and 91 through the air. Cornelius Wortham led the Tide's defense with nine tackles, six of them solo.

Shaud Williams had the game's longest scoring play, a 41-yard run up the middle. But the loudest cheer went up when Croyle, a fan favorite known for his strong arm, ran for a 4-yard touchdown.

Santonio Beard ran 3 yards for a touchdown and Ahmaad Galloway added a 2-yard score, which followed DeMeco Ryans' fumble recovery at the North Texas 26.

Alabama coach Dennis Franchione liked the diversity of his offense.

"We don't have to count on one guy. We don't have a go-to guy," he said.

North Texas' only touchdown came off a turnover. Walter Priestly recovered a fumble by Watts at the Alabama 5, setting up a 3-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Smith to George Marshall.

"We need to put this game behind us," said Smith. "We need to focus on what we are doing and what we need to do to get big plays and put up some points."

The score could have been even more lopsided: Don McGee intercepted a pass by Croyle in the end zone to kill a scoring threat, and Michael Ziifle was wide right on a 23-yard field goal attempt.

Penalties negated a 23-yard touchdown run by Ray Hudson, but Croyle's short run made up for the mistake to cap a nine-play, 48-yard drive.

Alabama struggled early offensively, managing only Ziifle field goals of 24 and 27 yards after its first three possessions. Jonas Buckles' interception of Watts' pass ended the other drive.

The attendance of 79,818 -- 4,000 short of capacity -- ended a string of 56 consecutive sellouts at Bryant-Denny since its expansion after the 1986 season.

Alabama plays host to Southern Mississippi next week. North Texas plays at TCU.

Arkansas 42, South Florida 3

By DOUGLAS PILS
AP Sports Writer

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Arkansas showed some first- and second-down weaknesses, but a powerful third-down punch continually rocked South Florida.

On four touchdown drives, the Razorbacks converted on all eight third down chances to roll over South Florida, 42-3, Saturday at War Memorial Stadium.

Quarterbacks Matt Jones and Tarvaris Jackson took the eight chances that averaged 6.5 yards and moved the chains each time. The Razorbacks (2-0) averaged 12.8 yards on the eight plays, scoring three times.

"We were just executing like we should have been on first and second down," said Jackson, who threw the first touchdown of his career to cap a 94-yard drive in the second quarter.

"The coaches did a good job of putting us in the position to make the plays. You don't want to put yourself in third-and-long, but we did a great job tonight in third-and-long."

Arkansas converted 11 of 17 third downs for the game, while the Bulls (2-1) made just three of 13. South Florida needed an average of 8.5 yards on third down and managed just 1.4 yards.

Jones and Jackson took turns leading long second-quarter drives as Arkansas put the game away with a 35-0 halftime lead. Jackson entered the game at the start of the second period, with Arkansas up 21-0.

"We tried not to get in third down and long, but we did and we were real successful tonight," said Richard Smith, who caught a 21-yard touchdown from Jones on third down.

Jones and Jackson outshone South Florida quarterback Marquel Blackwell, who came in with over 7,000 career passing yards.

The Arkansas quarterback duo completed 17 of 23 passes for 226 yards and three touchdowns, while Blackwell struggled under the Razorbacks' pressure. He completed 12 of 33 passes for 80 yards, his third-lowest yardage total in 36 games for South Florida (1-2).

In all, Arkansas gained 547 yards, the most since the Razorbacks gained the same amount in a 51-21 victory over South Carolina in 1995. Arkansas earned 34 first downs, had four rushers with at least 63 yards, and nine different receivers who caught passes.

"We've got a lot of good players that helped make that happen," said Jones, who was 9 of 12 for 148 yards and two touchdowns. "We've got some great receivers and just a great team around us. They just make me and Tarvaris look that much better."

Arkansas (2-0) capitalized on South Florida mistakes for a 21-0 first quarter lead. In the second quarter, Jackson and Jones led the Razorbacks on drives of 94 and 92 yards for a 35-0 halftime lead.

Jackson, Jones' backup, started the second quarter at the Razorbacks 6 and proceeded to march Arkansas 94 yards on 11 plays.

Jackson hit DeCori Birmingham on third-and-11 at the South Florida 45 for a 13-yard catch. Arkansas took a 28-0 lead when Jackson hit George Wilson on third down from 11 yards out in the corner of the end zone.

Jackson was 5 of 6 on the drive -- his first completions of the year -- for 52 yards and the first touchdown pass of his career.

That drive started just after South Florida ruined its last chance to stay in the game. A fake punt worked perfectly, as Kawika Mitchell raced 69 yards to the Arkansas 5, but the Bulls didn't have enough men on the line.

Jones capped the half by leading Arkansas on a 14-play, 92-yard drive that ate 5:41 off the clock. The Razorbacks converted three third downs on the drive -- Jones on a 9-yard keeper, Jones on a 27-yard completion to Birmingham and De'Arrius Howard on a 2-yard TD run.

Both teams spent most of the first quarter on South Florida's end of the field.

The Bulls started four of five drives from the 18 or closer. Blackwell wasted the best field position at the 42 by throwing an interception, his first in 79 attempts on the season.

Arkansas drove 69, 28 and 47 yards to take its 21-0 lead.

Fullback Mark Pierce's 1-yard run capped the first scoring drive, which was set up by Cedric Cobbs' 18-yard draw.

South Florida didn't score until Santiago Gramatica's 32-yard field goal with 38 seconds left. South Florida also helped buried itself with two personal fouls and two Blackwell fumbles. A 25-yard punt by Devin Sanderson set up Jones' 21-yard touchdown pass to Richard Smith.

On that play, Jones checked off at least one receiver before finding Smith, who caught the ball at the 10 and sprinted down the middle for the score.

"We passed the ball very well for having so many running quarterbacks," Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said. "I think it is the best passing game Matt has ever had."

Arkansas needed just four plays to score after forcing South Florida to punt from inside its 10. Fred Talley gained 17 yards on two carries, but Cobbs finished the drive and the Bulls with a spinning 19-yard touchdown run.

Cobbs was spun around by South Florida's J.R. Reed at the 10, but he kept his balance to score with 2:15 left in the first quarter.

Mississippi State 51, Jacksonville State 13
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) -- Kevin Fant threw for 336 yards and three touchdowns -- including the longest in school history -- to lead Mississippi State over Jacksonville State 51-13 Saturday.

Division I-AA Jacksonville State (1-1) pulled to within 19-13 in the first half, but The Bulldogs (1-1) scored 32 unanswered points to close out the game. The Bulldogs led 32-13 at the half.

Fant, who finished 15-for-26, served a one-game NCAA suspension during the Bulldogs' season opener against Oregon. He was suspended for having access to a booster's credit card while purchasing tires in April.

"I thought Kevin threw the ball well after a slow start, which was to be expected," said MSU coach Jackie Sherrill.

Ray Ray Bivines caught an 89-yard touchdown pass -- the longest pass in school history -- from Fant in the third quarter.

Mississippi State's Terrell Grindle had three catches for 118 yards, a career best. Bivines finished with two catches for 109 yards.

Mississippi State totaled 547 yards of offense -- 175 on the ground -- while holding the Gamecocks to 248 yards. The Gamecocks moved the ball only 68 yards in the second half.

Sherrill said younger players got much needed experience late in the game, but that the team would have to improve in order to beat Auburn.

"Especially up front, on the defensive line and in the secondary," Sherrill said. "The two touchdown passes we gave up should have been interceptions."

Kentucky 27, Indiana 17

By STEVE BAILEY
AP Sports Writer

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- It wasn't too long ago that Kentucky was known for its high-octane passing attack and not much else.

These days, a punishing ground game and tough defense are becoming the Wildcats' trademarks -- and producing victories.

Artose Pinner rushed 25 times for a career-high 141 yards and the defense forced three turnovers, including an 82-yard game-clinching interception return for a touchdown, as Kentucky beat Indiana 27-17 Saturday night.

Pinner also caught 10 passes for 92 yards as the Wildcats improved to 3-0 for the first time since 1998. They'll go for their first 4-0 start since 1984 against Middle Tennessee next week.

"Success breeds success and confidence breeds confidence," Kentucky coach Guy Morriss said. "That's something we didn't have around here last year."

Jared Lorenzen completed 19 of 32 passes for 183 yards with TD passes of 12, 7 and 6 yards and threw his first interception of the season.

Kentucky's defense gave up 394 yards but stiffened in critical situations. The Wildcats recovered a fumble, picked off two passes and held the Hoosiers to just 4-of-17 on third-down conversions.

Freshman tailback Yamar Washington carried the ball 32 times for 163 yards to lead Indiana (1-2). Quarterback Gibran Hamdan completed 13 of 38 passes for 234 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions in his first career start.

"You look at the things we did better this week and those were the things we emphasized in practice after we got thumped at Utah," Indiana coach Gerry DiNardo said. "You just have to come back tomorrow and get ready again."

The game was delayed 25 minutes by heavy rain and dangerous lightning. When it did get under way, Kentucky scored on its first two possessions to take a 14-0 lead.

Lorenzen hit Aaron Boone with a 12-yard touchdown pass on the Wildcats' opening possession. He found Pinner for a 7-yard TD on their next possession and the rout appeared to be on.

Indiana had chances to score on its first four possessions but turned the ball over twice and missed field goals of 34 and 35 yards.

Both teams were out of sync following a 35-minute lightning delay midway through the second quarter. Bryan Robertson's 46-yard field goal in the final seconds of the half cut the margin to 14-3 at halftime.

"I don't know that (the storm) affected us," Morriss said. "We played in spurts all night."

Indiana grabbed the momentum early in the second half. Hamdan hit Glenn Johnson with a 67-yard touchdown pass down the right sideline to cut the lead to three with 3:07 to play in the third quarter.

On Kentucky's next possession, Joe Gonzalez picked off Lorenzen and returned the ball 36 yards for another score to give Indiana its first lead at 17-14.

The Wildcats answered with a touchdown drive of their own as Pinner ran 55 yards to the Indiana 6, and Lorenzen found Chase Harp in the back of the end zone for a 21-17 lead with 14:54 remaining.

"He's like an old diesel engine," Morriss said of Pinner. "The more you give it to him and the longer he goes, the better he gets. He sure didn't slow down tonight."

Cumby's 82-yard interception return for a score with 2:46 to play sealed the victory.

The Wildcats beat their border rivals for the seventh time in the last eight meetings.

No. 25 LSU 33, Miami (Ohio) 7

By MARY FOSTER
AP Sports Writer

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- LSU coach Nick Saban saw positives even in the negatives against Miami of Ohio.

"We'll win more games playing hard and trying to dominate, than we will playing slow and trying to get good execution," Saban said after No. 25 LSU's sloppy 33-7 victory Saturday night.

Matt Mauck, making his third career start, threw three touchdown passes, and the Tigers (2-1) had another big night running the ball against the overmatched RedHawks (1-2).

But LSU committed nine penalties for 87 yards. In the third quarter alone, LSU had six for 60 yards. The Tigers had first-and-goal on the Miami 6, only to back up to third-and-goal on the 46 and finally settle for a 41-yard field goal by John Corbello, his fourth of a school-record tying six in the game.

LSU was dominant on the ground as LaBrandon Toefield, who had offseason knee surgery, seemed to have regained his form from 2001, when he was a first-team All-SEC selection.

Toefield ran for 111 yards on 17 carries as LSU outgained the RedHawks 207-29 on the ground. It was the seventh time Toefield, a junior, has rushed for more than 100 yards, the first this year.

"I looked in the mirror and knew I had to step up my game," Toefield said.

Domanick Davis had 51 yards rushing, 35 yards receiving and 116 yards on five punt returns.

Mauck completed 15 of 26 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns. He was not intercepted.

"I think I've relaxed," Mauck said. "I'm a little more comfortable. Gametime experience is the most important thing. You can't simulate it in practice."

LSU had 422 total yards to 224 for Miami of Ohio and held the ball almost 11 minutes longer than the RedHawks.

Miami of Ohio has lost five of its last six games.

"This is an environment where you can't hear and we responded horrible tonight," RedHawks coach Terry Hoeppner.

Miami quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was 22-of-34 for 195 yards and a touchdown. He threw an interception and was sacked three times.

Cal Murray led the RedHawks in rushing, but with only 18 yards on six carries before leaving the game injured.

"We don't know yet the extent of his injury," Hoeppner said.

It was a lackluster first half, with Corbello supplying three of the scores.

Corbello opened the scoring with two first-quarter field goals -- a 42-yarder and a 29-yarder with 8:24 that gave the Tigers a 6-0 lead. He also made a 35-yarder in the second quarter.

"I'm pretty sure of myself," Corbello said. "If I go out there it's going to go through."

Mauck hit Michael Clayton for the first of two scores in the first half, an 8-yard TD pass with 2:55 left in the first quarter that made it 13-0 LSU.

Miami didn't make it past its own 35 before its final drive of the first half. The RedHawks penetrated LSU territory for the first time with less than three minutes left in the half and put together a 10-play scoring drive.

Roethlisberger moved the team 87 yards before connecting with Korey Kirkpatrick on a 7-yard TD pass that cut LSU's lead to 16-7 with 50 seconds remaining. On the drive Roethlisberger was 7-of-8 for 84 yards.

LSU answered with its most impressive drive of the half, going 71 yards on five plays, with Mauck finding Clayton again. The 24-yard pass made it 7-23 at the half.

After Corbello's 41-yard field goal field goal in the third quarter, Mauck closed out the scoring with a 6-yard TD pass to Demetri Robinson with 10 seconds left, extending the lead to 33-7.