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No. 2 LSU Gets Past Tulane

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The Associated Press

Published: September 30, 2007

NEW ORLEANS - One good half was more than enough for second-ranked LSU to crush Tulane's early notions of an upset.

Jacob Hester's second touchdown of the game and Charles Scott's pair of scoring runs helped LSU (5-0) amass 24 unanswered second-half points in a 34-9 victory Saturday.
Matt Flynn shook off six sacks to throw for 258 yards. His passing was inconsistent in the face of constant pressure and he was intercepted once, but he kept fighting to eventually lead the Tigers to the lopsided triumph everyone expected.

Still, it wasn't as easy as expected for the Tigers, whose average margin of victory coming in was 35.5 points and who were favored by almost six touchdowns.

Tulane (1-3) trailed only 10-9 at halftime and didn't fall more than one score behind until Hester's 1-yard touchdown run gave LSU a 20-9 lead with 5:53 remaining in the third quarter.

GEORGIA 45, MISSISSIPPI 17: Thomas Brown ran for 180 yards - the most for Georgia in six years - and three touchdowns as No. 15 Georgia beat visiting Mississippi.

Brown's rushing total was the high for Georgia since 2001, when Verron Haynes ran for 207 yards against Georgia Tech. He matched his career high with the three TD runs.

Georgia's total of 328 yards rushing was its most in seven years under Coach Mark Richt, topping its 280 yards against Louisiana-Monroe in 2005.

Knowshon Moreno, a freshman, rushed for 90 yards with an 8-yard scoring run. Freshman fullback Fred Munzenmaier added a 6-yard touchdown run in the final minute.

Georgia (4-1, 2-1) only led 17-10 at halftime. Ole Miss tied the game with an 18-play drive that lasted more than nine minutes to open the second half.

Ole Miss (1-4, 0-3) tried to keep pace with Brown as BenJarvus Green-Ellis, ran for 108 yards and a touchdown. The Rebels hurt themselves with two turnovers.

SOUTH CAROLINA 38, MISSISSIPPI STATE 21: Freshman Chris Smelley threw for a career-best 279 yards and two touchdowns to lead No. 16 South Carolina past visiting Mississippi State.

Smelley was given the starting job by Coach Steve Spurrier before the Gamecocks (4-1, 2-1) left the locker room at LSU's Death Valley last week after a 28-16 loss.

Smelley, who replaced fifth-year senior Blake Mitchell, connected with receiver Kenny McKinley on touchdown passes of 20 and 27 yards, the latter putting South Carolina ahead for good, 24-21, with 3:43 left in the third quarter.

The Gamecocks gave up only 45 rushing by halftime in stopping Mississippi State (3-2, 1-2), which came to Williams-Brice Stadium with a three-game winning streak.

Mike Davis added two of his three rushing touchdowns (3, 2 and 12 yards) for South Carolina in the final quarter.

McKinley finished with four catches for 107 yards, his second game with more than 100 yards receiving this season.

ARKANSAS 66, NORTH TEXAS 7: Darren McFadden rushed for 138 yards and two TDs - all in the first half - to lead host Arkansas past an overwhelmed North Texas.

The Razorbacks (2-2) snapped a two-game losing streak, gaining 507 yards in the first half against a North Texas team that has allowed 220 points in four games. The Mean Green (0-4) are still winless under new coach Todd Dodge.

Felix Jones ran for 132 yards and two touchdowns, and like McFadden didn't carry the ball once in the second half.

VANDERBILT 30, EASTERN MICHIGAN 7: Earl Bennett caught nine passes for 93 yards and a touchdown to lead Vanderbilt's rout of Eastern Michigan, giving the host Commodores their first consecutive wins in a year.

Vanderbilt (3-1) forced a season-high five turnovers and need three victories in their final eight games to qualify for their first bowl appearance since 1982. The Eagles (2-3) managed just 173 yards, and lost to an SEC school for the third-straight time since 2001 to snap their two-game winning streak.

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