Southeast Roundup : LSU Pulls Switch on Florida, 28-17

Louisiana State, which self-destructed two weeks ago, turned itself around Saturday at Gainesville, Fla.

The Tigers, who had lost the ball seven times Sept. 20 against Miami of Ohio in a 21-12 defeat, this time forced seven turnovers en route to a 28-17 victory over Florida. LSU intercepted five passes and recovered two fumbles.

Freshman Tom Hodson threw two first-quarter touchdown passes to help the Tigers (2-1) win their Southeastern Conference opener. Greg Jackson clinched the victory by intercepting a Rodney Brewer pass off the hands of running back Wayne Williams and returning it 24 yards for an insurance score with 3:41 remaining.

“It’s about the type of game I expected,” LSU Coach Bill Arnsparger said. “I was a little concerned after the half. We made some mistakes, and they came back and almost took it from us. But our boys sucked up and got the game back and won.”

The Gators lost quarterback Kerwin Bell for at least four weeks with sprained ligaments in his left knee.

“This was another very disappointing loss for us,” Florida Coach Galen Hall said.

Florida, 1-4 overall and 0-3 in the SEC, dropped its third straight game at home after compiling a 21-game unbeaten streak at Florida Field.

Hodson completed 12 of 19 attempts for 165 yards, including touchdown passes of 19 yards to Rogie Magee and 39 yards to Wendell Davis.

LSU linebacker Michael Brooks, one of college football’s premier linebackers, suffered torn cartilage in his left knee in the first quarter, and his status for the remainder of the season is uncertain.

Georgia 14, Mississippi 10--Lars Tate scored on two eight-yard runs, and Doug Samuel made a crucial interception in the closing minute at Athens, Ga., to give the heavily favored Bulldogs a four-point victory.

It was the first Southeastern Conference game for Georgia (3-1 overall) and Mississippi (2-2-1).

Tate, the game’s leading rusher with 88 yards in 18 carries, took over full-time tailback duties when starter Tim Worley sprained a knee in the opening minutes.

Georgia Coach Vince Dooley said he didn’t know how long Worley would be sidelined. “Right now, it doesn’t look good,” he said. “We will have to wait and see what the doctors say tomorrow.”

Samuel made his interception at the Georgia 10 with 59 seconds remaining, and the Bulldogs ran out the clock.

Auburn 55, Western Carolina 6--The No. 7 Tigers used most of their bench in this nonconference victory, and Coach Pat Dye said that it will help his team the rest of the season.

“We played a lot of young players, which gives them valuable experience,” Dye said.

One of those young players, freshman reserve James Joseph, ran for touchdowns of 20 and 4 yards, and backups Reggie Ware and Reggie Slack scored one touchdown each.

Auburn is 4-0. Western Carolina is 1-3.

Joseph led all rushers with 114 yards in 14 carries.

The victory was the 100th of Dye’s coaching career.

Tennessee 26, Texas El Paso 16--It wasn’t the knockout the Volunteers had hoped for, but the victory at Knoxville, Tenn., did have its good points, Coach Johnny Majors said.

“The best thing is that we finally got the game over and we won,” Majors said.

The Volunteers got three touchdowns from tailback William Howard and two field goals from Carlos Reveiz to run their record to 2-2.

Howard, a 6-foot, 225-pound junior, ran for touchdowns of three and two yards in the first half and added a one-yard scoring dive in the final quarter. He finished with 110 yards in 25 carries.

Coming off last week’s 69-7 drubbing by Iowa, UTEP Coach Bob Stull saw some improvement by his Miners.

“We played much better,” Stull said, “but I don’t believe in moral victories.”

Miner quarterback Sammy Garza completed 19 of 29 passes for 208 yards and 1 touchdown but fumbled once and was intercepted twice in the second half as Texas El Paso fell to 2-4.

Kentucky 32, Southern Mississippi 0--The Wildcats scored 16 points in less than three minutes in the third quarter to rout the Golden Eagles at Lexington, Ky.

The scoring barrage was highlighted by Mark Higgs’ 15-yard touchdown run, Worley’s 21-yard field goal and Andy Murray’s 4-yard touchdown run. Earlier, Joe Worley had kicked field goals of 45, 19 and 38 yards to give Kentucky (3-0-1) at 9-0 halftime lead.

The Golden Eagles (2-3) were without running back Vincent Alexander, who averaged 115 yards a game before injuring his ankle last week.

Vanderbilt 24, Duke 18--Tim Richardson passed for two touchdowns, and Carl Woods bolted 70 yards for another score at Nashville, Tenn., as the Commodores snapped a five-game losing streak.

Vanderbilt (1-3) also got a 30-yard field goal from Alan Herline. The victory was the first since Watson Brown returned to coach his alma mater.

Duke (3-2) scored on field goals of 22, 36, 45 and 19 yards by Doug Peterson and on a 5-yard run by tailback Julius Grantham.

Mississippi State 34, Memphis State 17--Don Smith passed for two touchdowns, and Artie Cosby kicked two field goals to lead the Bulldogs’ victory at Memphis, Tenn.

Memphis State (0-5) had five turnovers and Mississippi State (4-1) converted four of them into scores.