The Associated Press
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Matt Jones plunged across the goal line, and before he could even get to his knees, was mobbed by teammates.
Jones’ 1-yard run in triple overtime gave Florida a 36-30 victory over Kentucky on Saturday night, extending the Gators’ winning streak in the Southeastern Conference series to 28 games.
The Gators (2-0, 1-0 SEC) had hoped to move beyond last year’s 4-8 debacle. But having to eke out a win against the Wildcats (2-1, 0-1) surely will stir more debate about the direction of the program and coach Will Muschamp’s future in Gainesville.
“Our guys found a win to win the game,” said Muschamp, whose team plays at Alabama next week. “That’s a huge positive, fighting through adversity and all the positives in there. Certainly a lot to be corrected.”
Quarterback Jeff Driskel struggled much of the game. The offensive line was inconsistent at best. And Florida’s inexperience secondary was badly exposed.
“Right now I’m not thinking about the misses,” Driskel said. “I’m thinking about the plays that we did make.”
After Kentucky’s Austin MacGinnis missed a 41-yard field goal to start the third overtime, Jones had consecutive big runs that put Florida at the 1. He slammed it home from there, setting off a raucous celebration few people outside Lexington could have envisioned beforehand.
Jojo Kemp nearly had it right.
The Kentucky running back predicted a victory, saying “it’s going to be fun walking out with a victory and rubbing it in their faces.” His words quickly made their way to Gainesville and became bulletin-board material for the Gators.
Despite the extra motivation, the Gators looked out of sync all night.
The play of the game was Florida’s fourth-and-7 conversion in the first overtime. Driskel floated a ball to the back corner of the end zone and found Demarcus Robinson for a 9-yard score.
Robinson, who was suspended at times last year, finished with 15 receptions for 216 yards and two scores. He tied Carlos Alvarez’s school record for catches in a single game, set in 1969.
“He did a good job of getting open,” Driskel said. “He made the plays.”
No other Florida receiver caught more than two passes. Driskel completed 25 of 43 passes for 295 yards, with three touchdowns and an interception.
Jones finished with 29 carries for 156 yards and a score.
Florida was an 18-point favorite in the game, no surprise given how lopsided the series has been. The Gators haven’t lost to Kentucky since 1986 and haven’t lost a game against the Wildcats at Florida Field since 1979.
The streak looked to be in jeopardy several times late in the SEC opener for both teams.
“It was a difficult loss, as you can imagine,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said. “They left it all on the field. There’s things we could all do better, we will do better. But again, we are not in the business of any kind of moral victory or anything like that.”
On Kentucky’s first play of overtime, Stanley Williams reversed field, outran several tackles and scored from 25 yards out. The Gators struggled to answer, but eventually did on the fourth-down play.
The teams exchanged field goals in the second overtime. Florida could have found the end zone, but Driskel was late delivering the ball to Robinson near the front pylon.
Frankie Velez hit from 20-yard out to send it to the third extra frame.
Velez missed from 39 yards out in the fourth quarter that would have given Florida a little more breathing room in a three-point game. That allowed Kentucky to tie it on MacGinnis’ 51-yarder.
Austin Hardin, Florida’s stronger-legged kicker, had a chance to win it regulation. But he pushed his 52-yarder wide right.
Florida trailed twice in the third quarter, falling behind 10-6 and then 17-13 on touchdown passes from Patrick Towles to Garrett Johnson.
Towles picked apart Florida’s secondary, throwing for 369 yards and three touchdowns. Johnson was his top target, finishing with six catches for 154 yards. He burned the Gators for a 60-yard touchdown, and then added a 33-yard score on the next drive.
“We’ve just got to tie some things up in the secondary,” Muschhamp said. “That’s my responsibility. We’ll improve on it.”
Florida looked to be in big trouble after those plays.
But Robinson bailed them out. He caught a ball that ricocheted off Fred Tiller’s hands and turned it into a 33-yard gain. Driskel found Tevin Westbrook for a 10-yard score on the next play.
Robinson was even better on the next drive, catching three passes for 42 yards, including a 9-yard score that put Florida ahead. It looked like it would be for good, but Towles put the Wildcats in position for the game-tying field goal.
Robinson’s best, though, was his last catch — on fourth down in the first overtime.
“It’s exciting,” Driskel said. “Those are the plays you live for.”
Arkansas 49, Texas Tech 28
LUBBOCK, Texas — Jonathan Williams ran for four touchdowns and Alex Collins added two more to lead Arkansas past Texas Tech, 49-28, on Saturday in a matchup of two former Southwest Conference foes.
Williams finished with 145 yards on 22 carries for the Razorbacks (2-1). He scored on rushes of 6, 13, 12 and 6 yards.
Collins finished with a career-high 212 yards on 27 carries, the longest an 84-yard TD in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen also added 5-yard touchdown run.
The win gave the Razorbacks back-to-back wins for the first time in more than a year.
Arkansas chewed up more than 13 minutes on back-to-back, 13-play drives in the second half, leaving the defense of the Red Raiders (2-1) spent.
Texas Tech’s Davis Webb completed 27 of 45 passes for 252 yards and three touchdowns. He rushed for one TD and threw two interceptions.
Arkansas finished with 438 rushing yards and limited Texas Tech — which came in averaging 365 yards passing — to 252 yards through the air.
Arkansas held the ball (40:39) for more than twice the time the Red Raiders had it (19:21), grinding out 31 first downs.
The Razorbacks chewed up almost half of the third quarter on its first drive. On third-and-goal from the 5, Allen dropped back to pass and was being chased by two Texas Tech defenders. Looking downfield, Allen forced two defensive backs to stay on a receiver as he ran into the end zone, extending Arkansas’ lead to 35-21.
But, true to form, the up-tempo Red Raiders offense struck quickly. Webb threw his final touchdown on a third-and-12 from the Arkansas 39, hitting Jakeem Grant, in stride, over the middle.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Texas Tech got only its second possession of the final half.
Texas Tech struggled against the run last season and Saturday was a repeat of those problems. In the Red Raiders’ five-game losing streak to close the 2013 regular season, they gave up an average of 294 yards rushing.
The Razorbacks, who punted only once all game, took a 28-21 lead into halftime.
Oklahoma 34, Tennessee 10
NORMAN, Okla. — Bob Stoops downplayed his latest coaching victory against the Southeastern Conference.
Trevor Knight passed for 308 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score to help No. 4 Oklahoma defeat Tennessee 34-10 on Saturday night.
The win wasn’t as dramatic as the Sooners’ Sugar Bowl victory over SEC member Alabama, but it puts them in a good position heading into Big 12 play. Instead of reveling in the win over a team from a conference he has criticized in the past, Stoops focused on his team.
“I don’t feel that we’ve done much yet,” he said. “I’ve got all the respect in the world for Tennessee. I’m just saying it’s only three games. We’ve got a long year. We’ve got to keep getting better.”
Stoops said he was pleased with the overall effort. Sterling Shepard caught five passes for 109 yards and Keith Ford caught a touchdown pass and ran for a score, and the defense forced three turnovers and held the Volunteers to 313 total yards. Oklahoma (3-0) won its seventh straight game dating to last season.
Tennessee coach Butch Jones said his inexperienced team was overwhelmed.
“We improved in some areas, but when you go on the road against a quality opponent like Oklahoma you can’t turn the football over,” Jones said. “A game can come down to two or three plays and you never know which plays are going to make a difference.”
Justin Worley passed for 201 yards for Tennessee, but he completed just 21 of 44 passes, was sacked five times, threw two interceptions and lost a fumble.
Jalen Hurd ran for 97 yards on 14 carries and Josh Smith caught five passes for 58 yards and a touchdown for the Volunteers (2-1).
A game that looked like it might get out of hand got competitive at times in the second half.
In the early minutes of the third quarter, Knight found Durron Neal for 43 yards to move the Sooners into the red zone, then Knight kept it himself for a 5-yard touchdown run that pushed Oklahoma’s lead to 27-7.
Tennessee got some hope after recovering a fumbled punt at the Oklahoma 30. A facemask penalty moved the ball to the Oklahoma 21, but the Volunteers got just a 31-yard field goal by Aaron Medley to trim Oklahoma’s lead to 27-10 with 2:29 remaining in the third.
Hurd busted loose for 43 yards to put Tennessee in business again, but Zack Sanchez intercepted Worley in the end zone to end the threat. It was Sanchez’s third interception of the season and fifth in his past six games.
The Volunteers got the ball deep into Oklahoma territory early in the fourth quarter, but Julian Wilson intercepted a pass that was deflected by linebacker Jordan Evans and ran it back 100 yards for a touchdown to put the Sooners up 34-10 with 10:57 to play.
Oklahoma dominated early. After the Sooners took a 3-0 lead, Tennessee moved across midfield before Oklahoma safety Quentin Hayes hit Worley from behind, forced a fumble and then recovered it. Knight connected with Ford out of the backfield for a 23-yard touchdown that put the Sooners up 10-0. Michael Hunnicutt’s second short field goal increased the Sooners’ lead to 13-0.
Oklahoma has outscored its first three opponents a combined 55-0 in the first quarter.
“I think it’s just a mindset, getting the guys ready to go and being ready to play,” Oklahoma tight end Blake Bell said. “The coaches do a good job.”
Tennessee finally got on the board after catching a break. Worley was sacked on third down, but Oklahoma was called for an offside penalty, and Worley took advantage by connecting with Hurd for a 30-yard gain. Later in the drive, Worley found Smith for a 40-yard touchdown pass to cut Oklahoma’s lead to 13-7 in the second quarter.
Tennessee had a chance to tighten the game further on its next possession, but the Sooners held. Oklahoma turned the momentum on the ensuing drive when Ford broke loose for an 11-yard touchdown run to push the Sooners’ lead to 20-7 late in the first half.
Ford left the game with an undisclosed injury in the second half, and Stoops said he wasn’t sure of his versatile running back’s status.
Knight passed for 229 yards in the first half, and surpassed 300 yards passing in a game for just the second time in his career.
Worley passed for 144 yards in the first half, but the Volunteers rushed for minus-11 yards before the break. Many of Hurd’s yards came on two runs in the second half.
Vanderbilt 34, UMass 31
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Ralph Webb scored on a 4-yard run with 1:08 remaining to give Vanderbilt a come-from-behind 34-31 win over Massachusetts on Saturday.
The winning score was set up on a 36-yard completion from Patton Robinette to C.J. Duncan.
Robinette, a sophomore, entered the game in the second quarter after true freshman Wade Freebeck started the game. Freebeck was the third different starting quarterback for Vanderbilt in its three games.
UMass (0-3) drove to the Vanderbilt 4-yard line only to have Blake Lucas miss a 22-yard field-goal attempt to the left with 2 seconds remaining.
Robinette scored on a 1-yard run at 10:02 of the second quarter to give Vanderbilt its first offensive touchdown of the season.
Vanderbilt (1-2) trailed by as many as 11 in the second half and scored 14 unanswered points in the final quarter to earn the win.
The victory is the Commodores’ first of the season and the first in the career of head coach Derek Mason.
Mason got the game ball right after the final horn and kept it in his arm as he shook hands with UMass head coach Mark Whipple and headed off field.
Freebeck played the entire first quarter and was 1 for 2 for 3 yards with an interception. He is the fourth quarterback to play for Vanderbilt this season.
Robinette started the first game of the season, a 37-7 loss home loss to Temple, while Stephen Rivers, a transfer from LSU and younger brother of San Diego Chargers quarterback Phillip Rivers, started the second game. Vanderbilt lost that game 41-3 to Ole Miss to open the Southeastern Conference schedule for both teams at LP Field, the home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans.
UMass, which raced out to a 14-0 lead, scored on five of its first seven drives and that included a kneel-down by quarterback Blake Frohnapfel to end the first half.
Frohnapfel threw for 205 yards on 17-of-34 passing. He connected with Rodney Mills for a 13-yard TD to start the scoring for the Minutemen.
Frohnapfel wasn’t the only Minuteman to throw a touchdown pass to Mills. Brian McDonald threw a 53-yard pass to Mills on a fake punt for Massachusetts’ second score. McDonald is a former quarterback who played at Fitchburg (Massachusetts) State in 2011 before transferring to Morris (Minnesota) State to focus on punting in 2012. He is now in graduate school.
Robinette threw for 147 yards and a touchdown while connecting on 15 of 21 attempts.
It was apparent the Commodores wanted to focus on the running game due to the number of quarterbacks they’ve used so far this season. They rushed for 169 yards on 40 carries, led by Webb’s 119 on 26 attempts.
Massachusetts running back Lorenzo Woodley scored a career-high two touchdowns. He had a 2-yard scamper in the second quarter and another 2-yard run in the third quarter. He finished with 59 yards on 22 carries.
Vanderbilt defensive lineman/linebacker Caleb Azubike had two sacks and led the team, along with linebacker Nigel Bowden, with seven tackles.
South Carolina 38, Georgia 35
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Dylan Thompson threw for three touchdowns and No. 24 South Carolina’s maligned defense stood strong on a fourth-quarter goal line stand to topple No. 6 Georgia 38-35 on Saturday night.
The Bulldogs (1-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) had a first-and-goal on the Gamecocks’ 4 down three points with 5:24 remaining. But Hutson Mason was called for intentional grounding to set Georgia back and the usually reliable Marshall Morgan missed a 28-yard field goal.
Todd Gurley ran for 131 yards and a touchdown, yet the Gamecocks (2-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) kept the Bulldogs’ star from making a bigger impact.
The victory was South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier’s 201st as a SEC coach, tying him for second alltime with Georgia great Vince Dooley. It put the Gamecocks back in the SEC East race.
Texas A&M 38, Rice 10
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Kenny Hill threw for 300 yards and four touchdowns and Texas A&M overcame a slow start for a win over Rice.
The win gives the Aggies a 3-0 record for the first time since 2010.
Texas A&M led by 14 points at halftime, but struggled at times to sustain drives and committed several costly penalties, including one that resulted in a touchdown being called back, in the first half.
They got going after halftime with Hill finding Josh Reynolds on a 20-yard touchdown on the first drive of the third quarter. A 1-yard touchdown run by Tra Carson pushed the lead to 35-10 later in the third.
Hill also had TD passes of 14, 13 and 48 yards and has 1,094 yards passing this season to become the first player in school history to throw for 1,000 yards in the first three games of a season.
Driphus Jackson threw for 212 yards and a touchdown and ran for 84 yards for Rice (0-2).
LSU 31, Louisiana-Monroe 0
BATON ROUGE, La. — Darrel Williams ran for two touchdowns, fellow freshman Leonard Fournette added another, and No. 10 LSU posted its second-straight shutout, beating Louisiana-Monroe.
Williams scored on a tackle-breaking, 22-yard run, then added a 1-yard score.
Fournette scored from 24 yards out and Kenny Hilliard added a short scoring run for LSU (3-0) early in the fourth quarter, giving him three TDs in as many games.
ULM (2-1) kept the game close for one half, but the Warhawks’ defense eventually wore down while their offense managed just 93 total yards and six first downs against a Tigers defense that has been in suffocating form since second half of their season opening comeback victory over Wisconsin.
Receiver Travin Dural had 79 yards on six catches for the Tigers.
Missouri 38, Central Florida 10
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Maty Mauk threw four touchdown passes, two each to Jimmie Hunt and Bud Sasser, and passed for 144 yards to lead Missouri past Central Florida.
The Tigers (3-0) led 14-10 at halftime before pulling away from the Knights (0-2), who had won their past two games against ranked teams.
Quarterback Justin Holman threw for 209 yards and one touchdown in his first career start for Central Florida, which only had 134 yards in the second half. Missouri had five sacks and forced four turnovers in the final 30 minutes.
Mauk entered the day tied for first nationally with eight passing touchdowns, and said this week that he likes to think aggressively on the field, even though sometimes it can be to the Tigers’ detriment.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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