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Alabama Rolls Over Georgia

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The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 28, 2008

ATHENS, Ga. - Alabama has the look of a national championship contender, racing to a 31-point halftime lead over third-ranked Georgia on the way to a decisive 41-30 victory Saturday night.

The Bulldogs became the third member of the top four to lose on a miserable week for ranked teams, while No. 8 Alabama (5-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) figures to move up at least three or four places to its highest spot yet under second-year coach Nick Saban.

The first half was a stunner. John Parker Wilson threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Julio Jones. Mark Ingram, Glenn Cofee and Roy Upchurch ran for scores. The Alabama defense stifled the penalty-plagued Bulldogs.

Georgia (4-1, 1-1) closed to 31-17 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. But that wasn't nearly enough to stem the Tide.

LSU 34, MISSISSIPPI ST. 24

BATON ROUGE, La. - Charles Scott surpassed 100 yards rushing for the fourth straight game and punched in two short touchdowns, and No. 5 LSU remained undefeated.

The Bulldogs (1-4, 0-2 Southeastern Conference) turned in a feisty performance in a bid to add another surprising result to a week highlighted by upsets of No. 1 Southern California, No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Florida.

But Scott's 27 carries for 141 yards kept LSU (4-0, 2-0) moving and the clock rolling.

AUBURN 14, TENNESSEE 12

AUBURN, Ala. - Backup quarterback Kodi Burns did just enough to help No. 15 Auburn run out the clock and preserve a win over struggling Tennessee.

Burns' 10-yard pass to Montez Billings on third-and-5 produced a first down and enabled the Tigers (4-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) to kneel on three consecutive plays with the Volunteers having used up their final two timeouts.

The Vols (1-3, 0-2) fell to 1-3 for the first time since 1994, the second full season for Coach Phillip Fulmer.

SOUTH CAROLINA 26,

UAB 13

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Stephen Garcia was 13-for-20 for 131 yards and ran for 86 more in the first significant action of his career, giving South Carolina's offense enough of a kick to beat UAB.

Garcia, a heralded recruit from Jefferson High who has had a hard time staying out of trouble off the field during his two years at South Carolina, came in on the second possession for the Gamecocks (3-2). Over the next five first-half possessions, the redshirt freshman accounted for all but 6 of the Gamecocks' yards and either passed the ball or ran it on 26 of the next 32 plays.

South Carolina's defense took care of the rest, holding the Blazers (1-4) to 207 yards as the Gamecocks won back-to-back games for the first time since starting 6-1 last season.

KENTUCKY 41,

WESTERN KENTUCKY 3

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Tony Dixon ran for two touchdowns as Kentucky ruined Western Kentucky's first-ever visit to Commonwealth Stadium.

Derrick Locke added a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown for the Wildcats (4-0), who will enter SEC play unbeaten for the second straight year.

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