Southeast Roundup : Florida Extends Unbeaten Streak With a 17-10 Win Over Tennessee

Coach Galen Hall of seventh-ranked Florida got just what he wanted out of his defense as the Gators edged No. 14 Tennessee, 17-10, in a Southeastern Conference game Saturday at Gainesville, Fla.

“Tennessee’s offense is explosive, but we were able to take a little of the firepower out today, and that may have been the key to the game,” Hall said after the Gators boosted his lifetime coaching record to 12-0-1.

The victory extended Florida’s unbeaten string to 15 games, longest in the nation.

“You don’t stop Tony Robinson, but we did contain him today,” Hall said of the Volunteers’ quarterback, who passed for 300 yards. But about one-third of that came in the final quarter after Florida had taken a 17-3 lead on a pair of third-quarter touchdown runs by Neal Anderson.

Robinson hit 26 of 36 passes but had two interceptions.

“It was a good game overall,” Robinson said. “We had our chances to get the ball in the end zone, but we just didn’t get it done. It was a hard-hitting game, a real dogfight.”

Anderson’s scoring runs of nine yards and one yard came in the third quarter on drives of 49 and 38 yards, following punts of only 32 and 31 yards by Tennessee’s Bob Garmon.

Anderson finished with 160 yards in 29 carries. Florida quarterback Kerwin Bell hit 12 of 17 passes for 143 yards.

“I saw two of the hardest-fighting teams I’ve seen on a football field in a long, long time,” Tennessee Coach Johnny Majors said. “Both played awfully hard. I don’t know how you could ask more out of defensive teams.”

The victory gave the Gators a 4-0-1 record, including 3-0 in the SEC, but Florida is ineligible to win the conference championship because it is on NCAA probation.

Tennessee fell to 2-1-1 and 1-1, becoming Florida’s eighth consecutive SEC victim.

The game drew a crowd of 74,432, bettering the Florida Field record of 74,397 set last year in a game against Auburn.

Georgia 49, Mississippi 21--Scrambling sophomore James Jackson ran for three touchdowns--including two in a 21-point third quarter--to lead the 18th-ranked Bulldogs to a Southeastern Conference victory at Jackson, Miss.

Leading 14-7 at halftime, Georgia scored on three of its first four possessions in the third quarter to jump to a 35-7 lead. Jackson ran five yards for one touchdown and 27 for another in the quarter.

Jackson’s 20-yard touchdown run with 1:13 left in the second quarter broke a 7-7 tie, and his 55-yard completion to Stanley Blalock set up a fourth-quarter touchdown.

The 5-11, 175-pound Jackson finished with 156 yards total offense.

“We came back in the second half and played well, especially in the third quarter,” Georgia Coach Vince Dooley said. “And James had a lot to do with that.

“We might have been a little tentative in the first half, but I thought we really got it going in the second quarter. Overall, it was a pretty good performance.

“We played in the first half like a team that had a week off--which we had. The opening second-half drive (for a touchdown) got us on track, and we went from there.”

In winning its fourth straight, Georgia (4-1) evened its conference record at 1-1. Ole Miss, a 41-0 loser to Auburn a week ago, fell to 2-3-1 overall and 0-2 in the SEC.

Louisiana State 49, Vanderbilt 7--Garry James scored three touchdowns, and second-string tailback Sam Martin ran for two more as 20th-ranked LSU handed Vanderbilt its worst loss in six seasons.

The winning margin was the largest for the Tigers since they beat Wyoming, 66-7, in 1977.

With the victory, LSU improved to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in SEC play. Vanderbilt, suffering its worst loss since Alabama beat the Commodores, 66-3, in 1979, fell to 2-4 and 0-2.

LSU quarterback Jeff Wickersham passed for 262 yards in the game at Nashville and became the all-time total offense leader for the Tigers, breaking the record held by Alan Risher.

James gained 63 yards in 11 carries and moved past Billy Cannon into fifth place on the all-time rushing list at LSU.

Kentucky 33, Mississippi St. 19--At Lexington, Ky., Mark Higgs and Mark Logan scored two touchdowns apiece as the Wildcats won their fourth straight game to improve to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the SEC. Mississippi State fell to 4-2 and 0-2.

Higgs finished with 125 yards in 19 carries, while Logan had 35 rushes for 115 yards. Quarterback Kevin Dooley completed 16 of 31 passes for 261 yards. He was intercepted twice.

Higgs scored on runs of one and 39 yards in the second quarter as Kentucky overcame three first-half turnovers and a 10-0 deficit to lead, 14-13, at halftime.