Vanderbilt 17, South Carolina 6
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- It took more than two decades for Vanderbilt to finally beat Steve Spurrier. But boy, this one was worth the wait for the Commodores.
Mackenzi Adams threw two touchdown passes and D.J. Moore had two key interceptions as Vanderbilt upset No. 6 South Carolina 17-6 Saturday, ending Spurrier's unblemished record against the school that began in 1987.
Spurrier came into this 14-0 all-time vs. the Commodores (4-3, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) and, with the Gamecocks (6-2, 3-2) ranked as high as they'd been since 1984, seemed a strong bet to keep that streak alive.
Instead, Vanderbilt took a 17-0 lead in the first quarter and held off Spurrier's club the rest of the way.
Vanderbilt's players rushed to the small section of Commodore fans when the game ended, jumping and pumping their fists in celebration.
And why not? The Commodores hadn't beaten a team ranked this highly since topping No. 6 LSU, 7-6, in 1937.
Vanderbilt had lost seven straight to South Carolina since last winning in 1999.
Spurrier was 2-0 against the Commodores at Duke, then continued the winning at Florida (10-0) and South Carolina (2-0).
Earlier this season, Spurrier had run his streak over Kentucky to 15-0, but the Gamecocks couldn't extend this one.
Vanderbilt had Georgia on the ropes a week ago before a field goal at the end gave the Bulldogs a 20-17 victory. This time, the Commodores hung on despite everything Spurrier threw at them.
Chris Smelly drove the Gamecocks 63 yards to the Andy 13, but Moore stepped in front of a pass in the end zone to stop the series.
Backup quarterback Blake Mitchell bounced a throw short on fourth-and-5. A series later, Mitchell's pass was picked off by linebacker Jonathan Goof with 11:05 remaining.
South Carolina had another chance to close in when Adams fumbled with 8 minutes left and Eric Norway recovered. Linebacker Marcus Bugs and defensive end Curtis Gated sacked Mitchell on consecutive downs to end the threat.
Vanderbilt managed only 201 yards, but that was more than enough as the Gamecocks gained only 195.
Smelly was 12 of 20 for 145 yards and two interceptions, while Mitchell was 3 of 8 for 19 yards.
Moore got things going for Vanderbilt early on. His first interception set up Bryan Hahnfeldt's 32-yard field goal.
One play later, Ryan Hamilton picked up Cory Boyd's fumble to put the Commodores in position again. Adams found George Smith for a 22-yard touchdown.
Vanderbilt kept up the first-quarter pressure. Two-series later, Adams had runs of 19 and 4 yards, then closed the drive with his second TD pass, a 20-yard toss to Justin Wheeler.
The Commodores were up 17-0, stunning most of the 79,212 at Williams-Brice Stadium.
Earl Bennett, Vanderbilt's standout receiver, came in needing three catches to tie the SEC's reception record of 208, held by Craig Yeast of Kentucky. Bennett, who caught 16 balls here against the Gamecocks two years ago, was held to two catches.
Alabama 41, Tennessee 17
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -- John Parker Wilson passed for a career-high 363 yards and three touchdowns, DJ Hall had a school-record 13 catches for 185 yards and Alabama rolled to a 41-17 victory over No. 20 Tennessee on Saturday.
It was a rollicking debut for Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban in the intense border rivalry that had been dominated lately by the Volunteers.
Alabama (6-2, 4-1 SEC) got its biggest win in the series since a 56-28 victory in 1986 after losing 10 of the last 12 meetings.
Saban set the tone with a successful onside kick that set up the first of four Leigh Tiffin field goals for a team missing three suspended starters, including offensive linemen Antoine Caldwell and Marlon Davis and No. 2 rusher Glen Coffee.
Even without two of his blockers, Wilson completed 32 of 46 passes, including touchdowns to Hall of 16 and 2 yards. He also ran six times for 28 yards.
Terry Grant carried 26 times for 104 yards and had six catches for 31 yards and a TD.
Defensively, Alabama mostly denied big plays to Erik Ainge, Lucas Taylor and the league's top passing team. Ainge was 22-of-35 for 243 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Taylor, the Southeastern Conference's leading receiver, managed just two catches for 15 yards.
Arian Foster ran for 91 yards on just 13 carries and gained another 74 on four catches.
Tiffin made 4 of 5 field goals, including a 45-yarder with 4:55 left that bounced off the right upright but was still good, another break in a day when everything seemed to go right for the Tide.
Alabama outgained the Vols 510-362 and held onto the ball for nearly 38 minutes.
The teams ended a wild first half with two scores in the final 12 seconds, set up by a pair of defensive blunders.
First, Hall caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to cap a 16-play drive that consumed more than 7 minutes, a play after a pass interference call set up first down.
Tennessee took over at its own 45 with 9 seconds showing. A completion to Chris Brown and a late hit penalty set up Daniel Lincoln's 45-yard field goal on the last play to cut Alabama's lead to 24-17.
The Tide capitalized on other Tennessee mistakes, too. One touchdown drive was kept alive by a roughing the passer penalty on third down and an offsides penalty on fourth-and-inches. Wilson made them pay with a 3-yard TD pass to Grant that made it 10-0.
Ainge and the Vols answered with two consecutive touchdowns for their only lead, capped by Luke Stocker's 3-yard catch on the first play of the second quarter.
The Wilson-to-Hall connection burned Tennessee again. Wilson found his top receiver for a 16-yard score on third-and-goal, Hall's eighth catch of the first 19 minutes.
Alabama announced the suspensions for Caldwell, Davis and Coffee and two reserve defensive backs before the game for violating school policy on receiving textbooks.
Tennessee receiver Josh Briscoe left the game with an unspecified injury in the first half.
Arkansas 44, Ole Miss 8
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- Darren McFadden ran for 110 yards, Felix Jones rushed for 101 and two touchdowns and defending SEC West champion Arkansas earned its first conference victory, 44-8 over Mississippi on Saturday.
Casey Dick threw three touchdown passes for the Razorbacks (4-3, 1-3 Southeastern Conference), who won for the third time in four games.
Ole Miss (2-6, 0-5 SEC) is the only SEC team without a conference victory and is 0-5 in the league for the first time since 1984.
Jones put the Razorbacks (4-3, 1-3) up 14-0 in the first quarter with runs of 38 and 11 yards. The two scoring runs were almost identical with Jones running off right tackle untouched to the end zone.
Ole Miss starting quarterback Seth Adams was pulled in the third quarter after throwing his fourth interception. The senior was replaced by Brent Schaeffer, who threw a late 37-yard touchdown pass and a 2-point conversion to Mike Wallace in the fourth quarter for Ole Miss' only points.
The scoring passes were the only positives in the passing game. The Rebels finished with 182 yards passing, the second lowest output of the season.
Adams threw 10 interceptions during the Rebels' 1-2 three-game homestand.
While Arkansas was only able to turn one interception into points, the turnovers kept Ole Miss from building any momentum.
Dick passed for just 96 yards, but started the game with seven straight completions and was efficient, especially at the goal line.
All of his scoring passes came on the back side of misdirection plays. He hit Andrew Davis on a 1-yard pass to make it 21-0 with 56 seconds gone in the second quarter. He connected with Peyton Hillis for a 9-yard score with 3:09 left in the third quarter to put Arkansas up 28-0.
An 11-yard touchdown pass to Davie with 9 minutes left in the game made it 37-0.
BenJarvus Green-Ellis led Ole Miss with 84 yards rushing and Wallace caught four passes for 57 yards.
West Virginia 38, Mississippi State 13
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) -- Pat White threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score in one half of action and Steve Slaton rushed for 127 yards and a score, leading No. 9 West Virginia to a 38-13 win over Mississippi State on Saturday.
The Mountaineers (6-1) scored on their first five possessions and weren't threatened afterward. They now enter the heart of the Big East schedule with a showdown next Saturday at Rutgers.
Playing at home for the first time in a month, West Virginia put together its best first quarter of the season following an open week on the schedule. But after jumping ahead 31-0 early in the second, the Mountaineers managed just two first downs and no points on their next five possessions.
Given multiple chances to close the gap, freshman Wesley Carroll could only temporarily rally Mississippi State (4-4), which lost to a ranked opponent for the fourth time this season. The Bulldogs were limited to 12 first downs and 214 yards of offense.
White's playing status was in question after indicating earlier in the week he wasn't recovered from a hit to his non-throwing (right) shoulder suffered two weeks ago at Syracuse. He played in that game despite a bruised thigh suffered in a loss to South Florida the week before.
White started against Mississippi State and the Bulldogs could barely touch him early on.
On the first play from scrimmage, White faked a handoff to Slaton, darted up the middle and went 64 yards untouched for a touchdown, his longest run of the season and tied for the fourth longest of his career.
White flirted with the 100-yard rushing mark only seven minutes into the game, and he capped West Virginia's second series with a screen pass that fullback Owen Schmitt turned into a 12-yard score.
The Bulldogs' Anthony Dixon fumbled near midfield on the next series, West Virginia's Marc Magro caught the ball in the air and ran 39 yards to the Mississippi State 17. Three plays later White hit a wide-open Darius Reynaud for a 12-yard TD and a 21-0 lead.
White sat out the second half. He finished with 89 rushing yards and completed 8-of-12 passes for 61 yards.
Slaton rebounded from a poor two-game stretch in which he was held under 70 yards. He scored his 43rd career rushing TD late in the first quarter, breaking the school record shared by Avon Cobourne and Ira Errett Rodgers.
After Slaton scored from 26 yards out - his first touchdown in three games - Carroll fumbled the snap and West Virginia's Mortty Ivy took the fumble 45 yards for an apparent touchdown. But the Mountaineers were penalized for a block in the back and had to settle for Pat McAfee's 42-yard field goal on the first play of the second quarter and a 31-0 lead.
West Virginia didn't score again until Jarrett Brown hit Reynaud with a 13-yard TD toss early in the fourth.
Mississippi State's only signs of life came on either side of halftime.
Carroll's second completion of the day went for 22 yards to Jamayel Smith and Dixon eventually scored from 1 yard out to cut the deficit to 31-7. Christian Ducre had a 3-yard TD run early in the third.
Carroll went 18-of-34 for 169 yards.
Florida 45, Kentucky 37
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- Tim Tebow threw for a career-high four touchdowns and No. 14 Florida rebounded from back-to-back losses with a 45-37 victory over No. 8 Kentucky on Saturday. It was the Gators' 21st straight win against the Wildcats.
The victory puts the defending national champions back in the Southeastern Conference title hunt despite their recent losses to Auburn and LSU. The Gators (5-2, 3-2) are now tied with South Carolina and Georgia for first in the SEC East.
Kentucky (6-2, 2-2), which knocked off then-No. 1 LSU in triple overtime a week earlier, came into the game concerned Tebow's Gators presented a bigger threat because of his running. The Wildcats held him to 78 rushing yards, but the junior's left arm proved far more problematic.
Tebow connected on 18 of 26 passes for 256 yards. He nearly had a fifth TD pass, but Cornelius Ingram allowed the ball to slip through his fingers. Tebow's previous career-high of three TDs came earlier this year in games against Troy and Western Kentucky.
Although the Heisman candidate has long been heralded for his versatility because of his running ability, he showed Saturday he is also a versatile passer, able to connect both on long bombs and short lobs.
At the end of the first quarter, Tebow dissected Kentucky's double-coverage of Louis Murphy, hitting him stride as he ran through the defenders and completed a 66-yard scoring play.
Just before halftime, Tebow showed finesse. He started toward the line, stopped, and threw a jump pass to Aaron Hernandez for a 1-yard TD.
Florida led 21-10 at halftime, but the Wildcats made a comeback attempt behind their own Heisman candidate, Andre Woodson, who had his best game of the season with 415 yards and five TDs.
Dazzling scoring plays from two receivers kept the Wildcats in the game.
First, Jacob Tamme caught a pass 10 yards short of the end zone, spun to avoid running out of bounds and ran it in.
Then, Dicky Lyons Jr. caught a short pass and turned it into a 50-yarder, weaving through defenders in his path.
Florida answered with its longest run of the game, a 24-yard end-around that receiver Percy Harvin took in for a touchdown to put the Gators back up 38-24.
Another Kentucky drive cut the lead to one TD with under four minutes left as Woodson found Lyons again on a 7-yard slant.
However, Tebow iced the game, using a 40-yard pass to give the Gators the ball on the 2, then running it in himself. It was the eighth straight game Tebow has scored a rushing TD.
A week after Kentucky's offensive line allowed no sacks against Glenn Dorsey and LSU's physical defensive front, the Gators got to Woodson six times, including back-to-back plays in the first half.
Those sacks translated into the first of several missed opportunities for Kentucky, as Lones Seiber was wide left on a 48-yard field goal attempt.
Kentucky had similar field position twice more in the first half, but coach Rich Brooks decided to go for it both times on fourth-and-long. The Wildcats converted on one and Seiber connected from 27 yards.
There were no turnovers in the game, attended by a Commonwealth Stadium record 71,024, and no penalties until Kentucky was whistled for a false start at the beginning of the second half.
Kentucky hasn't beaten Florida since 1986, the third-longest current streak in the nation between major opponents who have played every year without an interruption.
LSU 30, Auburn 24
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Matt Flynn threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Demetrius Byrd with a second left to lift fifth-ranked LSU to a 30-24 victory over No. 18 Auburn on Saturday night, keeping LSU's national title hopes alive and well.
With South Florida losing earlier in the week, LSU is certain to move up to at least third in the BCS standings, behind only Ohio State and possibly Boston College, which was idle this weekend.
Flynn finished with 319 yards passing and three touchdowns
Auburn's Brandon Cox, taking hits in the pocket but rolling out effectively when necessary, turned in a gutty performance, passing for 199 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
His last scoring pass, a 3-yard touchdown strike to Rodgeriqus Smith, gave Auburn a 24-23 lead with 3:21 to go.
But Auburn, following a game-long pattern of keeping the ball away from LSU returner Trindon Holliday, squibbed the kickoff, giving LSU the ball on its 42.
Flynn scrambled for 19 yards during the final drive, then took one more shot at the end zone as the clock wound down instead of getting the ball in the middle of the field to set up a potential game-winning field goal. He floated pass perfectly to the back of the end zone, where Byrd emerged from behind a defender and made a sliding catch, sending Tiger Stadium into a frenzy.
LSU extended its winning streak in Death Valley to 18 games. If that streak had been snapped, it would have been fitting if Auburn was the team to do it. Auburn came in on a three-game winning streak that included impressive road wins over No. 14 Florida and Arkansas.
LSU's Jacob Hester gave LSU a 20-17 lead, diving for the pylon on early in the fourth quarter after catching a swing-pass on third-and-goal for the 5. He led a patient rushing attack that amassed 169 yards, all but 40 in the second half.
Auburn led 17-7 at halftime after getting touchdowns on Cox's 17-yard pass to Montez Billings and Carl Stewart's dive over the pile, which was set up by LSU backup quarterback Ryan Perrilloux's fumble.
Flynn led LSU back with help from his best receiver, Early Doucet, back from a groin injury that had caused him to miss most of the last five games. Doucet made several clutch catches, finishing with seven receptions for 93 yards.