Alabama 24, Vanderbilt 10
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Terry Grant ran 24 times for 173 yards and two touchdowns, and Alabama made Nick Saban the latest coach to oversee the Crimson Tide's dominance of Vanderbilt with a 24-10 victory Saturday.
Leigh Tiffin kicked three field goals, and Alabama (2-0) won its Southeastern Conference opener with a 20th straight victory in a series it now leads 60-19-4. The Tide improved to 18-3-1 when opening SEC play against the Commodores (1-1, 0-1).
With 18 returning starters, the Commodores came in with what looked like their best chance to defeat Alabama on their home field since 1969 when they last beat the Tide in Nashville.
They found themselves essentially playing a road game with Tide fans who followed Saban to Nashville for his first road trip painting Vanderbilt Stadium mostly red in a rare sellout. Alabama fans spent the final minutes cheering in the pouring rain.
Alabama rolled up 371 yards offense. The margin could have been wider, but Tiffin was wide left on a 49-yarder and short on a 48-yard attempt.
The defense came up with two sacks and a turnover in holding Vandy to 101 yards offense through three quarters. Alabama also held two-time All-SEC receiver Earl Bennett to four catches for 52 yards.
The Commodores were their own worst enemy going three-and-out four times in the first half with penalties wiping out their two biggest plays, including a 70-yard punt return for a touchdown in the first quarter.
Myron Lewis was flagged for face mask that wiped out Alex Washington's return. A pass interference on Bennett combined with an Alabama face mask wiped out a 60-yard gain on Vandy's first play from scrimmage.
Javier Arenas set up Alabama's first TD with a 69-yard punt return, and Grant scored a play later for a 7-0 lead.
Alabama took control in the second, holding the ball for more than 12 minutes and rolling up 118 yards offense. Tiffin capped a 12-play drive with a 40-yard field goal and added a 29-yarder at halftime.
Chris Nickson, hampered by a sore hamstring, struggled and overthrew receivers in going 5-of-18 for 67 yards. He was replaced by Mackenzi Adams after bouncing his first pass of the second half, and he tossed a 15-yard TD pass to George Smith midway through the fourth.
South Carolina 16, Georgia 12
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) -- Steve Spurrier did it to Georgia again.
The ol' ball coach, who beat the Bulldogs regularly while at Florida, guided South Carolina to a 16-12 upset of No. 11 Georgia on Saturday night, signaling the Gamecocks as a possible title contender in the Southeastern Conference.
That must sound familiar to Spurrier, who won plenty of titles during his days with the Gators but kept poor-mouthing his chances with the Gamecocks.
Ryan Succop kicked three field goals, Cory Boyd ran for the game's only touchdown and South Carolina's defense held the Bulldogs out of the end zone.
That was hardly the formula Spurrier used to beat Georgia 11 out of 12 years during his dominating run at Florida, which captured six SEC championships and one national title with the coach's Fun 'n' Gun offense.
Spurrier knows he doesn't have that kind of high-scoring talent at South Carolina (2-0, 1-0 SEC), forcing him to rely on a stout defense and Succop's accurate right leg to hold off the Bulldogs (1-1, 0-1).
Georgia was the highest-ranked team that South Carolina has beaten in Spurrier's three years as coach.
The Bulldogs, coming off an impressive 35-14 victory over Oklahoma State, were held without a touchdown for the first time since a 14-9 loss to South Carolina in 2001, when Lou Holtz was the coach and Spurrier was in his final season at Florida.
Succop connected from 41, 35 and 34 yards, the last of those giving the Gamecocks at 16-6 lead with 9:25 remaining.
The Bulldogs drove into South Carolina territory on their next two possessions, but settled for Brandon Coutu's third and fourth field goals. The kicker accounted for all of Georgia's points.
Georgia got one last chance to pull out a win, getting the ball back at its own 20 with 1:20 remaining. But the Bulldogs never seriously threatened, taking a couple of penalties before Matthew Stafford threw up a desperation pass that was picked off by Jasper Brinkley.
Blake Mitchell, who was suspended from South Carolina's opener for missing too many summer classes, knelt down one time and it was over.
Spurrier walked quickly to the ``G'' in the middle of the field, where he shook hands with Georgia coach Mark Richt. He also congratulated a few Bulldog players before heading to the locker room, getting another round of boos from a Georgia crowd that still considers him Public Enemy No. 1.
With good reason, it turned out.
South Carolina jumped ahead with a six-play, 62-yard drive in the first quarter. Mitchell connected on 3-of-4 passes, including a 19-yarder to Kenny McKinley over the middle, and Boyd finished it off with a nifty 9-yard touchdown run.
Boyd burst through a wide hole and left Georgia safety Kelin Johnson grasping at air with a quick stutter-step, coasting to the end zone without being touched.
After giving up 252 yards rushing in last week's win over Louisiana-Lafayette, South Carolina held the Bulldogs to 128 on the ground.
Stafford faced plenty of pressure as the Gamecocks took advantage of Georgia's young offensive line. The sophomore completed just 19-of-44 pass for 213 yards, was sacked three times and spent much of the game on the run.
Mitchell had a solid night, completing 20-of-31 for 174 yards. The Gamecocks didn't take many chances, knowing their defense and running game could handle the load. Boyd ran for 76 yards and Mike Davis chipped in with 56.
Missouri 38, Ole Miss 25
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- Chase Daniel accounted for a career-high 396 total yards and threw five touchdowns passes Saturday as Missouri sprinted to a 28-point lead over Mississippi then held on for a 38-25 win.
It was the eighth time in the last nine games that Daniel had at least 309 total yards. He faced little pressure as he masterfully ran the spread offense and picked apart the Ole Miss (1-1) defense in the first 35 minutes.
Rebels running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis had a career game with 226 yards rushing.
The Tigers (2-0) built a halftime lead of 28-7 with four touchdowns and 245 yards passing. Daniel then seemed to put the Rebels away with a 38-yard touchdown pass to Greg Bracey just 1:12 into the third quarter that gave the Tigers a 35-7 lead.
Daniel's five touchdown passes came on five consecutive series spanning the second and third quarters.
But Ole Miss quarterback Seth Adams led the Rebels' push, completing 23 of 41 passes for 305 yards and three touchdowns in his second start. His scoring passes of 68 yards to Mike Wallace and 3 yards to Greg Hardy in the third quarter cut Missouri's lead to 38-19.
Green-Ellis cut it to 38-25 with a 2-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. But failed conversions cost Ole Miss 5 points, and the Rebels couldn't overcome their first-half mistakes, including Green-Ellis' fumble at the Missouri 7.
Daniel has thrown for 689 yards in two games, leading an offense that is averaging 39 points and 494 yards.
Not only was Daniel efficient, he was quick. All of Missouri's scoring drives lasted less than 3:05, with three coming in under 2 minutes.
The Ole Miss defense rarely pressured Daniel, giving him plenty of time to find an open receiver. The Rebels were often in position to stop big Tigers plays, but missed several key tackles that allowed first downs or scores.
Missouri's defense again left the Tigers searching for answers. Illinois wiped out a 24-point lead in a 40-34 loss last week.
The Tigers were unable to stop Green-Ellis. And Adams was able to find receivers running wide open on deep routes.
After giving up 429 yards against Illinois, Missouri allowed 494 to Ole Miss.
Kentucky 56, Kent State 20
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- John Conner had two of Kentucky's six rushing TDs - the first two of his career - as the Wildcats' offense overcame their porous rushing defense to defeat Kent State 56-20 Saturday night.
Conner scored on Kentucky's opening drives of both halves, including a 16-yard scamper four minutes after halftime that gave the Wildcats (2-0) the lead for good. Coming into the game, Conner had only two other carries in his career.
Tony Dixon, Andre Woodson, Alfonso Smith and Derrick Locke each added TD runs, Locke's from 67 yards out on just his second career carry. Kentucky racked up 266 rushing yards, but Kent State did even better on the ground.
Coached by Kentucky alumnus Doug Martin, the Flashes diced the Wildcats' defense for 215 rushing yards in the first half - including 124 from Eugene Jarvis and 79 from quarterback Julian Edelman. The Golden Flashes ran for 324 yards in the game.
Kentucky's Rafael Little didn't reach the end zone but had 13 carries for 102 yards, becoming the first Wildcats player - and fourth in the Southeastern Conference - with 2,000 career rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards.
Kentucky, best known for quarterback Woodson and his skilled receiving corp, needed the running game to get through this one because of shaky pass protection and an even shakier defense.
Woodson completed 15 of 22 passes for 218 yards and two TDs, but he was sacked four times - all in the first half. He didn't seem in sync until late in the third quarter when he fired a 51-yard TD to Keenan Burton to give Kentucky a three-touchdown cushion.
Before that, the Golden Flashes (1-1) gave Kentucky a scare with its option offense - a scheme that also troubled the Wildcats last year against another Mid-American Conference foe, Central Michigan.
The two teams headed to halftime tied at 14 after time ran out before Kent State could try a go-ahead field goal, but things could have been much worse for the Wildcats early.
Kentucky forced Kent State to punt only once in the half, but turnovers stopped three other drives in their tracks. Among them was an interception by Calvin Harrison that halted a drive on the Kentucky 8-yard line.
The Golden Flashes used some trickery to get on the board first with a 6-yard fake field goal run by holder Leneric Muldrow.
Woodson answered less than two minutes later, finding receiver Steve Johnson, who dodged three would-be tacklers to score from 33 yards.
Despite an often ugly game for Kentucky's run defense, defensive end Jeremy Jarmon had a standout performance with a sack and two deflected passes.
The Wildcats host intrastate rival Louisville next week in a battle of two offenses that have combined for 237 points through their first two games.
Florida 59, Troy 31
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- No. 4 Florida was nearly perfect early and sloppy late. Tim Tebow threw three touchdown passes, ran for two more scores and led the defending national champion Gators to a 59-31 victory against Troy on Saturday night.
Florida scored on all seven possessions in the first half, moving the ball with relative ease against Troy's soft zone.
The Trojans (0-2) refused to give the Gators (2-0) anything deep, keeping two safeties well back and prompting Tebow to throw underneath.
Tebow obliged, and the Gators ended up stringing together seven consecutive scoring drives. They led 49-7 at halftime, and the starters figured to get much of the rest of the night off before facing SEC East rival Tennessee in a week.
But the second half was much different from the first.
Florida had two turnovers and two punts, and the Trojans took advantage. Omar Haugabook ran for a touchdown, then hooked up with Austin Silvoy for two scores as Troy whittled into the lead.
Haugabook finished 29-of-52 for 283 yards, with an interception. Troy finished with 336 yards against Florida's inexperienced defense.
Florida's 42-point lead was cut in half in the fourth quarter. Haugabook's second TD pass made it 52-31 with 7 minutes to play, but Tebow and Percy Harvin ended any thoughts of a comeback.
Tebow scrambled for 25 yards, then Harvin followed with a 20-yard run. Tebow ran a few more times and scored from 16 yards out to make it 59-31 with 2:50 remaining.
Tebow finished 18-of-25 passing for 236 yards. He also ran 17 times for 93 yards.
Although Tebow made it look easy at times, Troy made it interesting, too.
Andre Caldwell fumbled on the first play of the third quarter, and Leodis McKelvin returned it to the 4-yard line. The Trojans, who nearly upset Florida State last year and played Arkansas tough last week, settled for a field goal.
The Gators punted on the next drive, and Haugabook capped a 68-yard drive with a 1-yard TD run. Freshman Chris Rainey fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and Troy had good field position again.
The drive ended when Greg Whibbs missed a 45-yard field goal. But the Gators punted the ball right back after Tebow was sacked on third down.
Haugabook hooked up with Silvoy for an 11-yard score, cutting the lead to 49-24 with 2:53 remaining in the third quarter.
The Gators looked like they would snap out of the funk when they picked up a first down on the next drive. But Tebow was sacked again, and Troy got the ball back with all the momentum.
Florida looked like it had regrouped following Joey Ijjas' first field goal of the season. But Haugabook found Silvoy for a 26-yard score with 7 minutes to go.
Tebow then took over.
The second half should provided plenty of apprehension for Florida as it heads into conference play against the 24th-ranked Volunteers.
The Gators had no such worries early.
Kestahn Moore had two short TD runs in the first half, and Tebow connected with Harvin, Cornelius Ingram and Jarred Fayson for scores.
Brandon James, who returned from a one-game suspension, had a 59-yard kickoff return and a 32-yard punt return that helped set up early touchdowns. Caldwell, lining up at quarterback, had an 18-yard TD run.
Ingram caught seven passes for a career-high 105 yards. Louis Murphy had six receptions for 78 yards.
Mississippi State 38, Tulane 17
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Michael Henig passed for one touchdown and ran for another and Mississippi State outscored Tulane 21-0 in the second half on its way to a 38-17 victory Saturday night in the Superdome.
Henig, who tied a school-record six interceptions in a 45-0 loss to No. 2 LSU in the season opener last week, completed 20-of-31 for 223 yards and threw one interception. He rushed six times for 23 yards.
Anthony Dixon rushed for 131 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries. He gained 101 of his yards and scored both of his touchdowns in the second half as the Bulldogs wore down the Green Wave.
Tulane was playing its first game under Bob Toledo, who was last a head coach with UCLA in 2002.
Green Wave quarterback Scott Elliott completed 15-of-26 for 197 yards with one touchdown and one interception before giving way to Anthony Scelfo in the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs broke a 17-17 tie on the first possession of the third quarter when Henig completed all five of his passes for 56 yards, ending with an 8-yard touchdown toss to Jeremy Jones.
Later in the quarter, Dixon ran 27 yards for a touchdown that gave Mississippi State a 31-17 lead. Dixon added a 7-yard touchdown run with 9:33 left in the game.
The Bulldogs scored first. On the third play from scrimmage, Elliott's pass was tipped and cornerback Gabe O'Neal grabbed the ball for an interception and ran 47 yards for a touchdown.
Tulane tied the score 7-7 on its next possession, as Matt Forte ran 39 yards for a touchdown.
Another Green Wave turnover led to another Bulldog touchdown later in the quarter. Forte fumbled and O'Neal recovered at the Mississippi State 44. Six plays later, on third-and-9, Henig scrambled 18 yards for a touchdown.
Tulane tied the score again on its next possession. Elliott's 67-yard completion to Jeremy Williams helped set up Elliott's 8-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy McKinney.
Adam Carlson, who missed a 42-yard field goal early in the second quarter, made a 23-yarder to give the Bulldogs a 17-14 lead with 6:25 remaining in the second quarter.
On the ensuing possession, Ross Thevenot kicked a 26-yard field goal to tie the score.
Tennessee 39, Southern Miss 19
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A trio of Tennessee wide receivers combine for 241 yards and two touchdowns.
Robert Meachem, Jayson Swain and Bret Smith? They're gone. The new trio of Austin Rogers, Lucas Taylor and Josh Briscoe had a breakout game against Southern Mississippi.
Erik Ainge threw a touchdown pass a piece to Rogers and Briscoe, Arian Foster ran for two scores and No. 24 Tennessee defeated Southern Miss 39-19 Saturday night.
``The potential has always been there, so we aren't shocked that they're where they're supposed to be every time,'' Ainge said about his new top pass catchers.
Ainge completed 23 of 36 for 276 yards, getting a lot of help from the developing receivers. Rogers caught seven passes for 112 yards and a touchdown, Taylor added 118 yards on five catches and Briscoe caught a touchdown.
Foster ran for 125 yards on 23 carries.
The Vols made a key conversion on third-and-short with when Ainge connected on a 5-yard touchdown pass to Briscoe with 41 seconds left in the second quarter to send Tennessee (1-1) into the locker room with a 17-16 lead.
After trailing Southern Miss most of the first half, the Vols held the lead after the Briscoe touchdown, capitalizing on three lost fumbles by Southern Mississippi (1-1).
Tennessee linebacker Jerod Mayo forced the ball from Tory Harrison with 9:35 in the third quarter and Jarod Parrish recovered. A 35-yard pass from Ainge to Taylor set up Foster's 9-yd touchdown five plays later to put the Vols up 27-16.
``Anytime you get a turnover, it's important to capitalize on the opportunity,'' Foster said.
Harrison fumbled again on a kickoff return with 8:21 in the fourth quarter and kicker Daniel Lincoln, filling in for an injured Britton Colquitt, connected on a 47-yard field goal pushing Tennessee to a 37-19 lead.
Tennessee was awarded a safety with 5:29 in the fourth after Nevin McKenzie forced the ball from backup quarterback Stephen Reaves, who kicked the ball out of the Southern Miss end zone.
``Football is a game where you can't have turnovers,'' Southern Miss quarterback Jeremy Young said. ``the team who forces the most and recovers the most is normally the team that wins and that's what happened.''
Tennessee's defense struggled in the first half, allowing a one-play scoring drive when Young threw down the field to Chris Johnson to put the Golden Eagles up 10-7 with 9:11 in the first. The 69-yard touchdown pass was a career-high completion for Young.
Young went 19-of-36 for a career-high 254 yards, surpassing his previous best of 193 yards set against Memphis in 2006. He also ran for 48 yards on nine carries.
Damion Fletcher, who rushed for 156 yards last week against Tennessee-Martin, was limited to only 37 yards on 11 carries. Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower said Fletcher was hindered by cramps and sat out for much of the second half.
The Golden Eagles converted only three of 16 third downs, struggling mostly inside the red zone.
``We had chances to score and settled for field goals,'' Bower said. ``When you play good teams you have to get touchdowns.''
Justin Estes connected on field goals of 30 yards, 41 yards and 24 yards for Southern Miss, his first career field goals, but missed on a 42-yard attempt. Britt Barefoot also succeeded in his first career field goal, a 51 yarder.
Lincoln also hit a 38-yard field goal in the first quarter.
Fulmer said he opted not to use Colquitt for punting or kicking responsibilities because he was still sore from punting in the Cal game with a lingering muscle pull. Fulmer said he was pleased with how Lincoln and punter Chad Cunningham have performed in his place.
``Lincoln, our young kicker, and Cunningham, our young punter, came through for us,'' Fulmer said. ``Britton might have been able to play, but we took the chance that the youngster would get it done.''
South Florida 26, Auburn 23 (OT)
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- Jessie Hester caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Matt Grothe to lift South Florida to a 26-23 overtime win over No. 17 Auburn Saturday night, another impressive upset for the Bulls.
Auburn freshman Wes Byrum made a 39-yard field goal to start overtime and then Grothe took over. He ran three times, including a sneak on fourth-and-1. Then, on the next play he hit Hester behind the defense for the game-winner.
South Florida (2-0), which had pulled off upsets of highly ranked West Virginia and Louisville in the past two seasons, won for the first time in five tries against Southeastern Conference teams.
The Tigers (1-1) committed five turnovers, but the Bulls couldn't turn any of them into points. Grothe made sure they didn't have to turn to struggling kicker Delbert Alvarado in overtime. He had missed four attempts in the second half.
Auburn gained only 2 yards on its overtime possession, with a run by Ben Tate and back-to-back incompletions by Brandon Cox.
The teams had swapped late field goals to force the extra play.
Byrum kicked a 46-yarder with 2:54 left for a 20-17 lead after Cox completed 4-of-5 passes for 50 yards on the drive. But the Bulls quickly smothered the Tigers' excitement.
Jerome Murphy raced 59 yards down the left sideline on the kick return to Auburn's 32. The Bulls moved to Auburn's 2 on a run and two completions by Grothe, but had to settle for Alvarado's 19-yard field goal with 55 seconds left.
The Tigers let the clock run down after failing to move the ball on its next two plays.
Grothe completed 18-of-27 passes for 184 yards and also rushed for 31 yards and a touchdown.
Cox struggled badly most of the game, going 16-for-35 for 165 yards and two interceptions.
Both teams made plenty of mistakes to take the game to overtime.
Mike Jenkins picked off a pass by Cox and returned it to the Auburn 3 with 7:28 left to play after the Bulls tied the game on a 38-yard field goal by Alvarado.
But the Tigers pushed them back a yard on three plays and Alvarado missed a 21-yarder, his fourth miss of the second half - including three potential game-tying kicks in the final 7 minutes of the third quarter.
Alvarado's first two attempts went wide left and his third was blocked by Sen'Derrick Marks.
Auburn redshirt freshman tailback Mario Fannin, who provided a spark early in his first career action on offense, fumbled on consecutive carries late inside Auburn's 25 to set up two of the attempts.
The Bulls had stunned the Auburn fans by jumping ahead 14-3 on a 2-yard touchdown run by Mike Ford - a former Alabama signee - late in the first quarter.
LSU 48, Virginia Tech 7
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- LSU didn't need any small-school sacrificial lambs on its early season schedule to post a couple of gaudy blowouts.
No. 9 Virginia Tech couldn't stop the second-ranked Tigers any more than some pushover.
Keiland Williams ran for 126 yards and two touchdowns, while quarterback Matt Flynn led LSU to scores on four of it first five possessions as LSU (2-0) cruised to a 48-7 victory over the uncharacteristically hapless Hokies (1-1) on Saturday night.
LSU's menacing defense drove Virginia Tech starting quarterback Sean Glennon from the game midway through the second quarter.
Williams highlighted an overwhelming first half for the Tigers with a career-long 67-yard run for a touchdown.
LSU had a 24-0 lead after the first 18 minutes and outgained Tech 327-40 in the first half - a week after its 45-0 dismantling of Southeastern Conference rival Mississippi State.
Williams added a 32-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Jacob Hester had 81 yards rushing, scored LSU's first touchdown, and also caught a pass for 28 yards.
Flynn didn't last the whole game either, but only because there was little need for him to play much beyond the third quarter.
Flynn ran for a touchdown early in the game and wound up with 217 yards passing.
Virginia Tech did not score until 4:38 remained in the third quarter, when backup quarterback Tyrod Tylor ran in from a yard out.
That made it 27-7, but LSU got those points back when backup quarterback Ryan Perrilloux found Early Doucet wide open for a 34-yard TD. Perrilloux also connected with freshman Terrance Tolliver for a 28-yard TD.
The Hokies and their fans received an unusually cordial welcome to 92,000-seat Tiger Stadium after a week in which head coach Les Miles and the team captains published a letter asking fans to be mindful of the shootings at Virginia Tech's campus last April. The venomous chants of ``Tiger Bait!'' that normally greet visiting team buses outside the stadium were all but muted while many fans clapped respectfully instead.
Shortly before kickoff, the Tiger Stadium crowd stood in applause as public address announcer Dan Borne asked them to ``celebrate the resiliency and pride of the Virgina Tech community.''
Then a trio of sky divers landed on the field, one flying a banner of Virginia Tech orange and maroon with a red ribbon in the center.
Then, for the first time in the 114 years of football at LSU, the Tiger marching band played Virginia Tech's alma mater before the national anthem.
The Southern hospitality ended there.
LSU bolted to a 14-0 lead in the first nine minutes on methodical drives of 87 and 86 yards. Hester and Flynn capped the Tigers' first two possessions with short rushing touchdowns, while LSU's defense did not allow a first down in the first quarter.
Curtis Taylor put Glennon flat on his back with a sack on a corner blitz three plays into Tech's first drive. The Hokies longest play from scrimmage during the opening 15 minutes was Glennon's eight-yard scramble. On that same drive, LSU safety Craig Steltz intercepted his fourth pass of the young season, giving the Tigers the ball on the Tech 21.
That set up Colt David's 30-yard field goal for a 17-0 lead to open the second quarter.
On LSU's next drive, Williams took an option flip from Flynn, hurdled a tackler before accelerating down the sidelines, then cutting across the field, for his long touchdown.
Glennon lasted one more unproductive drive before coach Frank Beamer replaced him with more mobile Taylor with about six minutes remaining in the first half.