COLLEGE FOOTBALL : REGIONAL ROUNDUP : No. 10 Florida Gives Georgia the Slip, 33-26

Errict Rhett rushed for 183 yards and two touchdowns and Judd Davis kicked four field goals in a downpour Saturday to lead No. 10 Florida to a 33-26 Southeastern Conference victory over Georgia at Gainesville, Fla.

The victory was the fourth in a row for Florida, 6-1 overall and 5-1 in the SEC, in the rivalry that Georgia (4-5, 2-5) dominated before Florida Coach Steve Spurrier returned to his alma mater in 1990.

Rhett scored on a nine-yard run in the first quarter and carried 14 times for 46 yards during an 80-yard touchdown drive that ended with his one-yard dive for a 30-20 lead late in the third quarter.

Kanon Parkman kicked two fourth-quarter field goals for the Bulldogs, and Eric Zeier’s bid to give Georgia a chance to win in the closing seconds fell two yards short.

Zeier, who completed 36 of 65 passes for 384 yards, took over at his 36 with 1:36 to play and completed six passes to move Georgia to the Florida 13 and set up a wild sequence in the final six seconds.

First, an apparent touchdown throw to Jerry Jerman was waved off when it was ruled Florida had called time out. Then, on what would have been the last play of the game, Zeier threw out of bounds only to get another opportunity from the two when Florida was penalized for pass interference in the end zone.

The game ended with Zeier, who established a school record for number of passes, throwing slightly behind wide-open Jeff Thomas in the Gators’ end zone.

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No. 8 Tennessee 55, South Carolina 3--Charlie Garner scored on a 60-yard run on the Vols’ second play and the rout was on at Knoxville. Tennessee (6-1-1, 4-1-1) led 38-3 by halftime and had 569 total yards in the game, with 335 coming on the ground.

For South Carolina (4-5, 2-5), it was its worst loss since falling to Florida State, 59-0, in 1988.

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Pookie Jones passed for two touchdowns and ran for another in the first half to get Kentucky (5-3, 4-2) rolling in a 26-17 SEC victory over Mississippi State at Starkville, Miss. . . . Jay Johnson scored rushed 15 times for 104 yards and two touchdowns to lead Louisiana State (3-5, 2-4) to a 19-17 SEC victory over Mississippi (4-4, 3-4) at Baton Rogue, La.

ATLANTIC COAST

North Carolina State 34, No. 16 Virginia 29--Gary Downs scored twice on short runs in the final 10 1/2 minutes as the Wolfpack (6-2, 3-2) upset the Cavaliers (6-2, 4-2), in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Raleigh, N.C. Virginia led 27-17 after three quarters.

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Dorsey Levens of Georgia Tech (3-5, 2-5) ran for two touchdowns and Donnie Davis passed for two others, leading the Yellow Jackets to a 47-14 ACC victory over Duke (2-7, 1-5) at Durham, N.C. . . . Clemson (6-2, 4-2) held Maryland (1-7, 1-4) scoreless despite three drives reaching inside its 10-yard line for a 29-0 ACC victory at Clemson, S.C.

SOUTHWEST

No. 11 Texas A&M; 37, SMU 13--Terry Venetoulias kicked three field goals and Greg Hill rushed for 129 yards in 21 carries and scored on rush of 28 and one yards at College Station, Tex., as the Aggies (7-1, 1-3-1) coasted to its 20th consecutive Southwest Conference victory.

SMU (1-5-2, 1-3-1) gave the Texas A&M; offense fits for three quarters with an eight-man front.

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Texas Christian (4-4, 2-2) recovered three fumbles and intercepted a pass to secure a 28-10 SWC victory over Houston (1-5-1, 1-2-1) at Ft. Worth. Max Knake passed for two touchdowns and scrambled for another to lead TCU. . . . Bam Morris rushed for 169 yards and two touchdowns and Marcus Coleman returned an interception 54 yards for a touchdown to lead Texas Tech (3-5, 2-2) to a 31-22 SWC victory over Texas (2-4-1, 2-1) at Austin.

WEST

Cody Ledbetter completed 26 of 44 passes for 426 yards and four touchdowns, all to Lucious Davis, as New Mexico State (5-3, 4-1) scored a 52-40 Big West victory over Nevada Las Vegas (1-7, 0-3) at Las Vegas. . . . Freshman Jake Delhomme’s two touchdown passes rallied Southwestern Louisiana (6-2, 3-1) to a 24-13 Big West Conference victory over San Jose State (2-6, 2-1) at Lafayette, La. . . . Chris Vargas threw completed 17 of 25 passes for 225 yards and four touchdowns to lead Nevada (5-3, 3-1) to a 31-23 Big West victory over Pacific (1-7, 0-3) at Stockton.