SEC showdown

Bryce Young’s first collegiate road trip was a rousing success that helped top-ranked Alabama beat No. 11 Florida 31-29.

NO. 1 ALABAMA 31, NO. 11 FLORIDA 29

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Bryce Young heard all about the Swamp. He knew it would be deafening at times and difficult, if not impossible, for a visiting quarterback to communicate.

He also understood the key to handling such a raucous environment: a fast start.

Young’s first collegiate road trip was a rousing success, a three-touchdown performance that helped top-ranked Alabama beat No. 11 Florida 31-29 in the SEC opener for both teams Saturday.

“Crazy atmosphere,” Young said. “Those fans were really loud. We knew it was going to be a hostile environment coming in and they lived up to it for sure.”

The defending national champion Crimson Tide led 21-3 after the first quarter but failed to sustain its momentum and had to stop a botched twopoint conversion with 3:10 left to extend its winning streak to 17. Alabama has now won 32 in a row against teams from the SEC’s Eastern Division.

“I think the offense did a great job of answering the bell in the game,” Alabama Coach Nick Saban said. “But our team needs to learn to maintain intensity throughout the game. … We’ve got a lot of good players. We’ve just got to get them to play a little better.”

Alabama (3-0, 1-0) has won eight in a row in the series, including a wild 52-46 victory in last year’s conference title game. The Gators (2-1, 0-1) fell to 0-5 against No. 1-ranked teams at Florida Field.

This one was closer than oddsmakers and just about everyone outside of Gainesville expected, with 14 ½-point underdog Florida having a chance to tie the game in the closing minutes despite playing without dynamic backup quarterback Anthony Richardson.

Coach Dan Mullen held Richardson out as a precaution because of a strained right hamstring and said he would only be available in case of an emergency. Mullen said doctors told him Richardson “could definitely make it worse” by playing.

So Mullen went exclusively with starter Emory Jones instead of a two-QB rotation.

Jones completed 17 of 27 passes for 181 yards, with an interception. He was booed at times, partly because of the slow start and surely because of the home crowd’s disappointment in not seeing Richardson.

Young completed 22 of 35 passes for 233 yards, showing little issues in a hostile environment. The Swamp packed in 90,887 fans, the fifth most in program history and the most since 2015.

NO. 2 GEORGIA 40, SOUTH CAROLINA 13

ATHENS, Ga. — JT Daniels returned to the lineup with three touchdown passes, Georgia’s fearsome defense nearly made it three consecutive games without allowing a TD and the Bulldogs romped past South Carolina.

Daniels completed 23 of 31 for 303 yards, including scoring throws of 43 yards to Jermaine Burton, 38 yards to freshman Adonai Mitchell and 4 yards to James Cook.

Georgia (3-0, 1-0) finally gave up a touchdown while on defense when Luke Doty, getting the ball on the Bulldogs’ side of the field after a fumble, connected with Josh Vann on a 36-yard touchdown pass with 10:55 remaining.

NO. 7 TEXAS A&M 34, NEW MEXICO 0

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Zach Calzada threw for 275 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start. The victory extends A&M’s winning streak to 11 games and gives the Aggies a 3-0 start for the first time since opening the 2016 season with six consecutive wins.

Calzada was thrust into the job last weekend against Colorado when Haynes King was injured on A&M’s second possession. King had surgery this week to repair a broken right leg, leaving Calzada to run the offense.

Calzada looked more comfortable, and the Aggies moved the ball much better Saturday than last week while scoring just 10 points in a win over the Buffaloes. They eclipsed their total points from that game in the first six minutes of this one and built a 24-point lead by halftime.

NO. 10 PENN STATE 28, NO. 22 AUBURN 20

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Jaquan Brisker broke up a desperation pass toward the end zone by Auburn’s Bo Nix as time expired and No. 10 Penn State held on to beat No. 22 Auburn.

Sean Clifford completed 28 of 32 passes for 280 yards and 2 touchdowns as Penn State (3-0) got a rare visit from a SEC team.

Jahan Dotson added 10 catches for 78 yards and a touchdown, tight end Brenton Strange caught a touchdown and tight end Tyler Warren and Noah Cain ran for scores.

Penn State had to make two late defensive stand to make the lead hold. First, they kept Auburn (2-1) out of the end zone after a first-and-goal at the 10. An incomplete fade from the 2 on fourth down with 3:08 left gave Penn State the ball back, but the Nittany Lions could not run out the whole clock.

MEMPHIS 31, MISSISSIPPI STATE 29

MEMPHIS — Calvin Austin scored three second-half touchdowns including a questionable 94-yard punt return in the fourth quarter as Memphis rallied for a victory over Mississippi State.

The victory and Austin’s punt return culminated a wild final three-plus minutes that included onside kicks, penalties and reviews, such as whether Austin could return the punt on which he scored or if the ball was dead.

In the end, Memphis (3-0) escaped with the victory culminated by a 51-yard field goal from Tiger kicker Joe Doyle with 2:02 left. A two-play drive from Mississippi State (2-1) after the field goal was capped by a 36-yard touchdown from quarterback Will Rogers to Makai Polk. But Rogers run for the two-point conversion failed, preserving the Memphis victory.

Rogers completed 50 of 67 passes for 419 yards and 3 touchdowns.

LSU 49, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 21

BATON ROUGE — Max Johnson passed for 372 yards and a career-best five touchdowns in less than three quarters, LSU defensive end Andre Anthony returned a fumble for a 33-yard score, and the Tigers topped Central Michigan.

Johnson completed 26 of 35 passes but was pulled after his final throw and his only big mistake of the night, an interception returned 20 yards for a touchdown by Central Michigan safety Devonni Reed with 5:41 left in the third quarter.

Deion Smith, a freshman who had one catch through LSU’s first two games, had touchdown catches of 28 and 40 yards in the first quarter as the Tigers (2-1) raced to a 21-0 lead.

KENTUCKY 28, TENN.-CHATTANOOGA 23

Will Levis overcame two interceptions to throw a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Isaiah Cummings, safety Tyrell Ajian returned an interception 95 yards with 7:40 remaining, and Kentucky rallied past Tennessee-Chattanooga.

Considered overmatched in their first meeting against the SEC school, Tennessee-Chattanooga (1-2) slowly turned a seven-point deficit into a 16-14 lead early in the fourth on Aaron Sears’ 30yard field goal. The Wildcats (3-0) awoke to drive 77 yards for the go-ahead TD, helped by Levis’ 21-yard run and a defensive pass interference penalty before the QB hit Cummings with a 31-yard TD pass with 10:18 left.

MISSOURI 59, SE MISSOURI 28

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Connor Bazelak squeezed a full day of production into one half as he led Missouri to a victory over Southeast Missouri.

Bazelak completed 21 of 30 passes for 346 yards and 3 touchdowns for the Tigers (2-1). He spread the ball to 10 receivers and connected on a 46-yard touchdown pass to D’onte Smith and a 52-yard TD pass to Chance Luper.

TENNESSEE 56, TENNESSEE TECH 0

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Hendon Hooker threw three touchdown passes and scored one of his own to lead Tennessee to a victory over Tennessee Tech.

Hooker, who finished last week’s loss to Pittsburgh after Joe Milton went down with an injury, rolled up 199 yards while completing 17 of 25 passes for the Volunteers (2-1). The only negative was a lost fumble in the second quarter.

Tennessee Tech (0-3) went through three quarterbacks. The Golden Eagles generated just 179 yards of offense.