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Auburn Overcomes Errors, Holds Off Mississippi St.

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The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 14, 2008

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Wes Byrum kicked a 36-yard field goal in the second quarter, and that was all No. 9 Auburn needed to defeat Mississippi State 3-2 on Saturday night.

The Tigers (3-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) committed three turnovers, missed two field goals and handed the Bulldogs their only points with a safety.

But Auburn allowed only 116 yards to Mississippi State (1-2, 0-1).

The Tigers' new spread offense still has a lot of work to do. Chris Todd was 14-of-26 for 154 yards and Ben Tate ran for 92 yards on 20 carries.

Mississippi State scored with 7:05 left the fourth quarter when Auburn offensive lineman Ryan Pugh was called for holding in the end zone, giving the Bulldogs two points.

Wesley Carroll was 10-of-25 for 78 yards for the Bulldogs.

LSU 41, NORTH TEXAS 3

BATON ROUGE, La. - Charles Scott ran for touchdowns of 39 and 43 yards, Trindon Holliday scored on a 92-yard punt return, and No. 7 LSU cruised to a victory over winless North Texas.

The dominant victory came at a price for LSU. Starting linebacker Darry Beckwith left the game with an apparent right knee injury. Beckwith could not put any pressure on his injured leg as two trainers helped him to the sideline, where he was given crutches. LSU officials did not specify the extent of the injury.

Andrew Hatch and Quinn Johnson also ran for short touchdowns for LSU, which won handily for the second time in as many games.

Scott finished with 102 yards rushing on only seven carries.

ALABAMA 41,

WESTERN KENTUCKY 7

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - John Parker Wilson passed for 215 yards and two touchdowns and freshman Mark Ingram ran for two scores, leading No. 11 Alabama to a win over Western Kentucky.

The Crimson Tide (3-0) got the kind of start-to-finish effort Coach Nick Saban had been seeking against a team that began moving up to the Football Bowl Subdivision last season. Alabama rolled to 557 yards a week after getting held to 172 by Tulane to enter Southeastern Conference play on a high note.

Key players got a chance to rest, too. Glen Coffee rushed for 97 yards on 11 carries before sitting out the second half. His career-long 51-yarder set up a touchdown. Freshman Julio Jones caught five passes for 66 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown.

Wilson completed 17 of 27 passes with an interception in three quarters before giving way to backup Greg McElroy.

Wilson passed Brodie Croyle to set Alabama's career record for total offense and jumped Andrew Zow to move up to No. 2 in passing yards, behind Croyle.

TENNESSEE 35, UAB 3

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Jonathan Crompton threw for 240 yards and two touchdowns to lead Tennessee to a win over UAB.

The Volunteers (1-1) erased bad memories of a poor offensive effort at UCLA two weeks ago before entering the toughest stretch of their Southeastern Conference schedule.

Crompton completed 19 of 31 passes and threw two interceptions before being replaced by backup Nick Stephens late in the fourth quarter.

The Blazers (0-3) were called for nine penalties for 79 yards. The UAB defense, ranked 117th of 118 Football Bowl Subdivision teams for total defense, had little success stopping the Vols, who rolled up 548 yards.

VANDERBILT 38, RICE 21

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Jared Hawkins rushed for 107 yards and the Vanderbilt defense held Rice scoreless in the second half.

The Commodores snapped a 21-21 halftime tie on Jamie Graham's 27-yard touchdown run with 11:41 left in the third quarter.

A third-quarter field goal and Chris Nickson's 1-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter helped Vanderbilt pull away.

Vanderbilt improved to 3-0 for only the third time since 1984.

MISSISSIPPI 34,

SAMFORD 10

OXFORD, Miss. - Marshay Green scored on a 77-yard punt return and Mississippi scored 31 consecutive points to easily defeat Samford.

The Rebels (2-1) struggled early with the Bulldogs of the Championship Subdivision, who led 7-6 until the final four minutes of the first half. Then Ole Miss had consecutive touchdown drives of 53, 91 and 63 yards late in the second quarter and early in the third period.

Ole Miss finished with 424 yards on offense.

KENTUCKY 20,

MIDDLE TENNESSEE 14

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Robbie McAtee tackled Eldred King at the 1-yard line as time expired to preserve Kentucky's victory over Middle Tennessee State.

McAtee's game-saving ankle tackle came after Middle Tennessee quarterback Joe Craddock heaved a desperation pass 61 yards in what appeared to be a last-second victory for the Blue Raiders. Instead, McAtee's tackle kept Kentucky undefeated (3-0) and prevented the Blue Raiders (1-2) from a second consecutive victory against a major conference foe, having beaten Maryland a week earlier.

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